In Sheep's Clothing
by queien
Summary: A lot of strange things have been happening in Amber recently. What's a king to do other than search through shadow to find the rawest recruits he can? "In Sheep's Clothing" is a political mystery story that follows the player characters from the Amber DRPG game I ran as they discover Amber for the first time and learn to never trust family.
1. Chapter 1

It's been a while since I've written fan fiction. I debated writing this story for a while, but figured I'd go with it. My ADRPG group quit on me, so I never got to finish telling my story. This will help me get my campaign out of my system so I can focus on other things.

This story takes place roughly 40 Earth years after the end of The Courts of Chaos. For the purposes of this story, the events of Merlin's 5 books never happened.

I tweaked a few things for the sake of speed, but this is honestly about how the campaign ran. As for the Amberites changing when they trumped, I wanted to share that they wore different clothes in Amber, but didn't want to bother with the shadow walking that all three did at least a little before finally trumping the rest of the way. Pardon my inaccuracies. It was done purely for flow.

Though I'm not fond of first person perspective, I'm going to attempt to write in it for as long as I can. I want to attempt to mimic the feel of Zelazny's books. Also, it's good practice for me. Just a heads up, but the narrator will change every chapter. It'll be told from the viewpoint of all three of the player characters: Nils, Sebastian, and Jonah. The person who played Nils didn't come often, so he won't be in the story much. These three characters aren't mine and belong to their respective owners.

I hope you enjoy!

Rated T for nudity, blood and gore, creative swears, politically incorrect characters, implied incest, actual incest, Nazis, and Sebastian.

* * *

I awoke as usual: still drunk enough to not be hungover with some random broad pinning my thoroughly numbed arm to my bed. I slid myself out from under her, swearing under my breath at the sharp, painful pricklies. Luckily, it didn't take as long as usual for the feeling to return. I flexed my fingers a few times before rolling over and rubbing my bedmate's back. Time to wake a bitch up.

"Morning," I cooed into her ear. She moaned and rolled onto her back to blink groggily up at me.

"Morning," she purred as she pulled the sheet up to cover her exposed breasts. Damned if I didn't have fine tastes when I was drunk. This chick was all sorts of hot! Not that it was going to change my morning routine or anything.

"Good, you're up." I cut the cutesy shit and got out of bed. "See, I have class in, like, half an hour, so you need to be gone. Now."

She sat up, clutching the sheet to her to stay "decent." It wasn't like I hadn't seen everything just last night. "Sebastian? Wh-what do you mean? I thought we had something-"

"If you think that, then you're as dumb as you look." I pulled on a clean shirt and then lit a cigarette, which I gripped with my lips as I spoke. "Now get out. I can't have you screwing with my shit while I'm in class."

"You JERK!" She got up with a huff and collected her black lace panties from the lamp shade. "You'll pay for treating me like this! No one treats me like this! You'll never be able to get any ever again! I'll make sure of it!"

"Look, Carol-"

"My name's Christine!" She had, by this point, collected all of her clothes and had begun to dress.

"Yeah, whatever. Christine. Do you have any idea how many times I've heard that little line before? Yeah? Well, tons. And I still get pussy all the time. Less talking, more leaving, 'kay?"

Christine harrumphed. I'd never seen anyone angrily fasten a bra before. It was almost a turn on.

"You promised me breakfast." She spat venomously as she pulled on her miniskirt.

"Hm?" I looked up from my attempt to force my fingers to understand how belts work. "Oh. Right. Well, if you were paying attention last night, you would've noticed the basket of granola bars by the door. Take one as you leave. One!" I always had to stress this because dumb bitches never listen.

She glowered at me, bottom lip out, eyes threatening to pour down tears. "Bastard!" She shouted before storming out of the room. I peeked out of my door to watch her ass as she left. Just as I feared, she took two granola bars. Bitch. Those things aren't cheap!

I tapped the ash from my cigarette into the full ash tray on my dresser. I'd give her a few seconds head start before I left my start. I'd learned from experience that running into the bitch I just threw out of my apartment was never good for fueling the ever-growing local gossip.

After a time, I mashed the cigarette butt in with its friends and then left. I had a sculpture to finish.

The light rain that sprinkled down on my walk to the school (with a slight detour for some Starbucks) was both soothing and annoying. I pulled my thin jacket around me and took a gulp of my coffee. It was May, damnit! This kinda weather wasn't supposed to happen anymore! Stupid Washington…

I chugged the rest of my coffee and chucked it into the a nearby trashcan. I really needed a good smoke. Lucky for me, there was a smoke shack in front of the art department. Whoever decided on the placement of that shack was a genius who deserved a Nobel.

The drizzle seemed to have scared away most of the flocks that usually glommed around the place. That, and I was early enough to miss the storm of addicts that mobbed the place between periods. I'd have to keep it short if I wanted to avoid them completely, though.

I lit up a fresh cig as I walked into the glass building, giving a nod to some of the regulars I'd seen around before. Charlie, Sam, dude-who-always-has-paint-on-his-cheek, and… oh no… some bitch I'd slept with before establishing my "no sleeping with classmates" rule. Well, fuck. I avoided eye contact and headed toward the bench at the back of the shack.

…which was already taken by a sexy young thing with long, shapely legs. Hello!

I sat down next to her and smiled. She didn't even glance my way. "Hey," I said, laying on the charm.

"Hello," she replied simply in a silky voice.

"…what are you smoking?" I didn't even realize what I was saying until the words tumbled out of my mouth. I bit my lip and hoped she didn't take offence. However, I hadn't been expecting such a woman to be smoking a pipe.

"Oh, it's a unique blend," she said before puffing at it. "Would you like to try some?"

"Sure," I said, taking the pipe when she held it out. I took a puff, not quite sure what to do with a pipe. The flavor that filled my mouth was a lot richer than I had been expecting. I took another puff and then held it out to her.

"Weird, but not bad," I said. She took the pipe without looking at it and stuck it back into her mouth. "So, uh, what's your name?"

"Shandrin," she replied, still staring straight ahead. It was starting to creep me out a little.

"Shandrin, huh? That's a pretty unique name. You a foreign exchange student or something?"

"You could say that." She tapped her pipe against the bench to empty the ashes and then stood.

"Hey, what program are you in?" I asked, standing as well.

"Sculpture. They say I'm gifted like my mother."

"Oh hey! I'm in sculpture too!" Though who said 'gifted' anymore? She sounded a bit spoiled. Brat.

"I know. We're in the same class." She replied as she started to maneuver her way out of the smoke shack, which was starting to get crowded. I followed, making sure to keep enough distance to watch her supple ass swish side to side under her short, clingy skirt as she walked. Damn… Might have to make an exception for this one!

"We are, huh?" I thought back. I guess we were. I never paid attention to the other students, but someone like her should've stood out.

"Mhm," She stared straight ahead as she made her way through the halls. "I started last week."

"Ah." I jogged for a few paces to catch up with her so I was walking at her side again. There was plenty of room now that we were inside the school and I didn't want to seem weird following behind her like that. Anyway, I needed a better look at the front bits.

C cups. Not bad. The tight, low-cut shirt she wore showed them off well. Her waist was slender to the point of looking fragile. It was hard to resist putting my arm around it. And those legs! Those perfect legs… I wanted nothing more than to be between them right about now.

"What?" I had been distracted and hadn't noticed her talking to me.

"What's your name?" She repeated.

"Sebastian," I said simply before going back to my quiet assessment of her.

After a few moments, I cleared my throat. "So, uh, you free after class?"

Shandrin giggled playfully. "Maybe," she said as we reached the classroom. I played gentleman and opened the door for her. "Thank you."

I smiled at her, but she didn't even look at me. This bitch was impossible to read! Did she want the dick, or was she just pulling me along? "Uh… maybe we could meet for some drinks or something. I know a nice little place."

"If there's time," she replied as she pulled out her project. It was only partially done, but looked like a bust of some guy. Well, shit.

"Who's that?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"My brother Oliver," she replied. I tried not to seem too relieved.

"It…uh… well, it looks really good," I complimented as I started to pull mine down. I hesitated for a brief second, but she'd probably already seen me put my hand on the miniature naked woman and had probably seen me work on it in class, so I pulled it down anyway.

"What are you working on?" She asked as she prepared her tools.

"Um…well… Here. Look." I shifted my sculpture so that she could see it better.

"Do you mind if I touch it?" I couldn't help but notice her fantastic eyes. Such a pale, elegant shade of blue! I almost started to feel romantic and shit as I looked into them.

"Er…sure. Whatever." I said. Hey, if she wanted to touch boobies, I wasn't going to stop her. Maybe she secretly was a lesbian or something and would let me watch. Even hotter!

She ran her hands over the figure slowly, lightly, and giggled as she touched the breasts. "Classy," she commented.

"I wasn't the one who asked to touch it," I replied as I went back to work on my piece.

"Well, how else was I going to know what it looked like?" She asked.

"I don't know. Maybe by using your eyes?" I quipped without thinking. "What are you, blind?"

It was then that everything made sense. Everything fit together. Why she wouldn't look at me, why she had touched my art, why her eyes looked so weird… I flinched as she turned her empty gaze on me. "Yes. What are you, an idiot?" Her tone was harsh and biting, but she smiled after the remark and silently went back to her work like nothing had happened.

Ouch. How the hell is someone supposed to recover from that?

So I left. I didn't even put away my work. I just walked right out the door just as another early student was walking in. Hopefully, she hadn't heard me leave.

I returned after class to put away my things and found Shandrin still there, working on the sculpture of her brother like nothing had happened. Shit. But I couldn't just leave my work out! I'd spent a lot of time on those perfect tits. I gritted my teeth and tried to muffle my footsteps. Careful… careful… I crept closer and closer. Almost there…

"Sebastian?"

Damn.

I went back to walking normally and picked up my work. "Yeah." I muttered.

"I'm glad you're back," She said with a smile.

I turned. "Really?" I almost dropped my naked chick in surprise.

"Yeah. I had something to show you." She pulled a case out from between her boobs and opened it. Playing cards? I put away my statue and went over to her. She fanned the cards out in front of her in one hand and silently trailed the fingers of her other hand over them. I peered over her shoulder. They all looked like tarot cards. Creepy. Still would bang her if I got the chance, though.

She pulled one from the set, folding the rest and returning them to the case. " Here," she said, turning it so I could get a better look. The card showed a castle on a mountain, a moonrise behind it. "Isn't it beautiful?" She slid the fingers of her free hand into mine. Her skin was warm and dry, but soft.

"Yeah." I said blankly, not quite understanding what was so great about the card or how she even knew if it was beautiful or not. Hell, how did she even know what card she held? It could've been any of them, for all she knew!

She was silent. I glanced at her. She was staring intently at the card as though expecting it to do a trick. Things were starting to get awkward. I tried to pull away from her, but her grip tightened. Damn. I might have to change schools to avoid her crazy, but I'd still bang her first.

I sighed and looked back at the card in her hand. It was really well done. It even looked like it might've been hand painted. I thought for an instant that she might have painted it, but then remembered her blindness and felt stupid again. However, that feeling was only fleeting, quickly replaced by panic. The classroom was gone! "Where the hell are we?" I shouted.

Shandrin lowered the card, letting go of my hand so that she could return the image of the castle we now stood in front of back with the others tucked away between her breasts. Her outfit had changed along with the damn landscape. She now wore a short, layered, seafoam-green dress that looked like something a slutty teenaged girl would wear for a Halloween Tinkerbell costume. The sexiness almost distracted me from my panic.

"Welcome to Amber!" She said cheerily.

And that's when my life started to suck.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Jonah, that creepy dude over there's been staring at us for a while now."

I glanced over at the man Nick had gestured at and tried not to stare. He was buff. Ripped, actually. I could count the muscles in his chest from where I stood. He lay there on the beach on a towel, shirtless, head propped up by a second towel. I was about to brush Nick off as paranoid when the man lowered his shades and made eye contact with me. Yeah. He was definitely watching us.

"Probably just another talent scout," I said dismissively as I picked up my board. "Let's go to a different beach. He'll leave us alone." I turned and headed back to the van. Nick and Josh followed behind me. Unfortunately, so did the mystery man. I sighed and handed my surfboard to Nick. "Take this to the car. I'm going to take a quick swim. I'll meet you at the usual place, alright?"

"Sure, dude." Nick said hesitantly before I ran toward the waves. I glanced behind me and noticed that Mr. Muscles was right behind me, keeping pace. Just like the rest of them, he was persistent. There was no way in hell I was going to enter in whatever competition he wanted me to sign up for. I knew I was different from the other surfers and didn't want the wrong people to find out about me. My "Uncle Merle" had told me to try to avoid standing out. Other than continuing to surf, which he had told me was a bad idea, I was doing exactly what he wanted.

The hot Hawaiian sand burned the soles of my feet, but I ignored it. I looked behind me again. My friends' van was gone. Good. The man was gaining on me. Bad. How was that even possible? I was faster than all my friends. Well, he wouldn't keep up for much longer.

I ran into the high waves and ducked under the surface. The man was right on my heels. I swam out further, popping my head out above the waves for air. The man was still hot on my trail. I had to give him credit: he really wanted to talk. Well, I wasn't interested. I dove under and didn't come up again. I dove deeper and deeper, all the while opening up a set of gills on my neck. Heh. Catch me now.

After I felt the water pressure building in my ears, I glanced behind me once again. The man was gone. Good. I changed my course and started toward the beach where my friends would be. It was only a few miles away, so it wasn't impossible for a normal human to swim there. Not that I was exactly normal…

I got rid of my gills as I neared land again. Nick and Josh were already out surfing, so I waited for them. I didn't feel much like surfing anymore. Scouts usually took it out of me.

I watched them ride waves for a bit longer and then left. However, I first left a note on Nick's windshield, letting him know I was heading home for a nap and to keep my surfboard until we next hung out. I then went back to my hotel room. My home. My dad owned this whole hotel, so he let me have my own personal room. It was nice. The staff all knew me and no one complained that I always walked around barefoot. I got onto the elevator and went up to floor 35. I stepped out onto the rough carpet and headed towards my room. It was then that I saw him, leaning against the door to my room: Mr. Muscles, now covered with a plain-looking red polo. How had he found my address? This went beyond persistence and was quickly entering the realm of creepy.

I steeled myself and continued forward as I pulled out my card key. I would just shove him out of my way and walk on in. He may have more muscles than I did, but that didn't mean he was stronger. I could probably pick him up and toss him over my shoulder if I wanted.

"Excuse me, but you're in my way." I said as I walked over to him.

"Are you Jonah?" He asked me. I guessed that this guy wasn't too bright.

"I'm not interested," I said as I grabbed his shoulder and shoved to the side. The man held like a brick wall. I tried again with the same results. Somehow, this man was stronger than me!

Mr. Muscles grabbed my hand that was on his shoulder. "My name is Bernard. I'm here to take you to Amber."

"Well, whoever she is, she can wait until I'm done with my nap, at least." I replied, trying to pull my hand free. Bernard held on tight.

"Amber isn't a person," Bernard said with a slight chuckle. "It's a place."

I snorted, trying to pretend I hadn't just remembered that I knew what he said was true. Amber was indeed a place. My "uncle," if he even was really related to me like he claimed, had mentioned it while he had helped me practice. I hadn't listened to him much back then, but I was more likely to believe him now that this new guy was blabbing about it. Then again, maybe Bernard and Merle were in the same cult or on the same drugs. I'd checked tons of books and even searched around online. No such place existed.

"So… it's a place," I said coolly, still trying to get my hand back. "I still want to get a nap in."

Bernard shook his head and took out a pack of playing cards. With one hand, he shuffled out a card that looked like a very decorative Jack. A man stood alone, leaning on a flower-covered pole. In the background stood a horse. Bernard returned the rest of the cards to their case and then, still holding my hand, started to stare at the card.

"Hey… um… what are you doing?" I asked. I redoubled my escape attempts. Bernard didn't answer. Well, he did say something, but it was obviously not to me.

When he did next talk to me, it was a command. "Hold out your free hand. My hands are full."

"That wouldn't be a problem if you'd just let me go," I shot back.

"Just do it," he said with a sigh. "I'll let go of you if you just put out your hand like I told you to."

"If you say so." I stuck out my free hand and was startled when I felt someone grab it and tug. The next thing I knew, I was standing right in front of the same man I'd seen on the card and I definitely wasn't in my dad's hotel anymore.

"I found Jonah, Father," Bernard said. I frantically turned to face my abductor. He now wore a tight, red, medieval-style shirt with a v neck and a pair of light brown pants. On his left bicep was a leather belt, kind of like some cheesy cartooned hero. However, that wasn't as bad as the massive blade that he wore across his back. It was only a few steps down from something from a JRPG!

My eyes continued to dart between these two strange men. "Father?" It had only struck me just then. They really did look similar. The two of them both had long, slender faces and brown hair, though Bernard's was cropped much shorter. I guess what threw me off was the fact that Bernard looked like he abused steroids while this other man was more than a bit on the scrawny side.

"My name is Benedict," the new man said to me before turning his attention to Bernard again. "Random will want to see you. He's in the library."

"Alright. Let's go, Jonah." Bernard put a hand on my arm. I brushed it off, and he looked hurt. I didn't really care. I didn't know where on Earth I was or what he had done to me. I couldn't care less right now if I hurt his feelings. However, I still followed him. I didn't want to offend him so much that he decided to use that massive blade of his on me.

"So, where are we?" I asked as I looked around.

"Castle Amber," Bernard replied.

"So it's real, then?" I asked and then put one hand over my mouth in shock. I had finally noticed that we were no longer speaking English, but some other language I had never heard before. "What is this?" I asked.

"What?"

"This language!"

"Oh, that's Thari," Bernard said. "I was a little shocked you knew it, too. It's the native language here. I guess you know it because it's in your blood."

"That makes about as much sense as assuming an Asian person speaks Chinese," I muttered in this strange new language. I was pretty positive now that Bernard had at some point drugged me. "What do you mean, 'in my blood,' anyway? That doesn't make any sense… oof!" I stumbled backward a pace as I ran right into someone coming the other direction. He was short, a good head-and-a-half shorter than me, and slender with wavy light brown hair going down to his shoulders. His outfit was bolder than his personality seemed. He wore a mud-brown shirt under a forest-green vest with large, decorative buttons. But what stood out most about him were his bright blue eyes.

"Ah…um… pardon me," the boy squeaked before hurrying off.

"Who was that?" I asked, catching up to Bernard, who hadn't bothered to stop and wait for me.

"Oliver," Bernard replied. "He usually blends into the woodwork, so you probably won't see much of him."

"Ah…" I glanced behind me again, but Oliver was out of sight. Oh well. I turned back to face Bernard. "Oh, hey! You never answered my question about-"

"We're here." Bernard threw open a pair of ornate doors. Great. More people dressed up for a ren faire.

Four people sat near the entrance to the room, playing what appeared to be a casual game of poker. At the head of the table sat a man who seemed to be dressed like a jester. He wore a two-colored one-piece outfit where the limbs diagonal from each other were the same color. On his chest rested a ruby the size of my fist. To his right sat a large man who rivaled Bernard in mass. He was dressed in furs and looked like the type of man who laughed much too loudly. Across the table from the caveman sat an elegant young girl with long, wavy brown hair. The top layer was tied up in a high ponytail with a piece of ribbon, but the bottom layer hung down freely. I could tell from her features that this young woman was somehow related to the boy I had run into in the hallway. They even had the same eyes.

The last man had his back to me as I walked in. As he turned, I realized that he fit in about as well as I did. No… Maybe he fit in a little better, because all I was wearing were my swim trunks.

This guy was wearing blue jeans and a brown t-shirt with an image of a ribcage roughly over where his own ribs should be. Slung over the back of his chair was a light jacket. He didn't look thrilled to be there. I didn't blame him. Not only was he probably here against his will like I was, but his poker hand was crap.

"This is Jonah," Bernard said to introduce me. I heard a snort and realized that there were two men I hadn't noticed before. One, dressed in silvery scale mail, sat in a plush chair off to the side. He looked even less thrilled to be there than I did. Standing behind him, leaning against the wall, was a younger man with a similar build wearing plate mail. More relatives?

Bernard continued with introductions. "That is Random, King of Amber." The jester with the bling gave me a slight nod. "That's Gerard, his brother, and that in the corner is Julian, another of his brothers." The big man in the furs shot me a grin, but the man in the armor didn't even glance my way. "Over there is Diego, Julian's son." The man in plate seemed similarly uninterested with my presence.

The young woman folded her cards and placed them face down on the table. "My name is Shandrin. I'm Random's daughter. This is Sebastian, who is also from Earth." The man in normal clothes muttered something under his breath.

Random folded his cards as well and held out his hands. "Well, don't be shy! Come here and play a few rounds while we wait for Dante's return!"

I wanted to ask who Dante was, but honestly didn't care enough. I was having enough trouble remembering all these names. I decided it was best to focus on remembering "Random" and "Sebastian." I didn't want to insult this…"king" by forgetting his name. And then Sebastian seemed like someone I could get along with. He at least looked normal.

I took a seat between him and Shandrin. Bernard put a hand on my shoulder as he passed and sat between Shandrin and Random. Random collected all of the cards and shuffled them skillfully.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to look at Sebastian. "Hey," he whispered. "Keep your eye on the chick. I think she cheats." I glanced at Shandrin and then returned my attention back to him. I must have looked puzzled because he continued. "That Random guy's won about half of the games and she's won the rest."

"Well, they are related," I whispered back. "Maybe card skills run in the family?"

"Yeah, well, you don't understand," Sebastian replied. "See, she told me she's blind."

I barely had time to digest this information when the library doors were thrown open again.


	3. Chapter 3

It takes quite a bit to startle me. I had lived through countless wars and seen exactly what sorts of hideous monsters lived inside humans. I had even fought beside Hitler and let myself become one of those monsters. So when the dog-man entered the humble café in Munich where I was eating my lunch, I didn't even bat an eyelash. Though new, it wasn't the worst thing I had seen. In fact, my initial reaction was that of the rest of the café: that some street performer must have wandered in for a break, or maybe that the circus was in town. I calmly continued to eat my steak and potatoes.

The man lifted his furless, dog-like face and sniffed the air. Slowly, he turned to face me. His lip curled, exposing long, sharp fangs as he came at me with a snarl.

I was ready for the attack (I am always ready for an attack) and kicked my table at him. The dog man brushed it aside and I realized now that the man's torso and arms were unnaturally long and gangly. They also seemed to be jointed at an unusual angle, and the fingers had an extra joint in them. This was definitely no human in a costume.

I bit the piece of steak that remained on the end of the fork I still held and rushed in, hoping to catch the beast off guard. The dog-man clawed at me and I ducked and left the fork in his arm. The monster howled in pain and rage and raked at me again. I rolled to the side and tried to find another weapon. The other customers had finally realized that this wasn't a joke and were rushing around in a panic trying to get out. This was only going to make it more difficult to fight.

The monster tore the fork out of its arm and threw it to the ground. Blood dripped from his hairless arm. I cracked my neck from side to side. Come at me.

The dog-man snarled and lunged again. I ducked to the side and landed an elbow to the middle of its back. The beast staggered. I wrapped one arm around the beast's neck and hoped to choke the monstrosity to death. It seemed like this trick was going to work until I noticed he tried to swipe at me with his long, sharp claws. I pulled away just in time, but that let the dog-man recover and climb back to his feet. Damn. Luckily, most of the other guests in this place had left. Good. More room to fight. It was a good thing I had gotten that fork wound in early. Hopefully, it would wear the beast down.

Just as I thought that, I heard a gunshot. The dog-man lurched forward and then spun around to face the door to the café. I could see a bullet wound in his shoulder. A second shot rang out and the beast dropped to the ground, blood pouring from a wound right between the eyes. I crouched and hid myself behind an overturned table, wishing that I had a gun on me. Though the shooter may have been aiming to take out the dog-man, there was also the chance that he was here to kill me and the monster just happened to be in the way of his aim. One can never be too careful…

"Hello?" I heard a male voice call out in German. "I know you're here. Come out! I don't mean you any harm. I mean, I did just save your life and all."

I peered out from around the table and saw a red-haired man holding a pistol. To be honest, he looked too ridiculous to be an assassin. His face was slender and long with a mustache that was comically curled at the tips. His beard was a few inches long and thick, but sprouted only from his chin. He wore a pair of black driving gloves. On his left hand, he wore a massive rock of a ruby ring, the color almost identical to that of his hair. His shirt was scarlet, bold against his clean, black slacks. The man nudged the corpse of the dog-man with his foot and then lifted his gaze to look around once more.

"Come on! We don't have all day!" He said to no one in particular. "If you're worried about the gun, well, I don't intend on using it on you."

That wasn't entirely comforting.

"Look," he continued. "I'm just here to protect you. Come on. Don't make this hard on me. It was annoying enough that a Dog got here first! I hate fighting those things! I killed one for you!"

I sighed. The man obviously wasn't going to go away. I stood, trying to keep most of me hidden behind the table for protection.

"Aha! There you are!" The red-head's eyes brightened as he smiled widely. "I knew you were still here!" I eyed the gun warily as he spoke, but he kept it lowered. Good.

"What do you want with me? Who are you?" I asked him.

"My name is Dante," the man said with an dramatic bow. "I'm here to escort you to Amber."

"Amber?" I repeated. The name sounded somewhat familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

"Yup!" The man pulled out a deck of cards and shuffled out a single card before returning the rest to his pocket. "Come here."

"You're armed."

Dante clicked the safety on the gun and then chucked it over his shoulder. "Not anymore."

I grunted and reluctantly went closer. I could see now that the card he held showed the image of a young man clad in rich browns and greens. His eyes were downturned, staring at a small rectangle of paper that he appeared to be painting.

"Yeah. He'll do," Dante remarked. "Grab my shoulder or something." He flicked the card out in front of him at arms length and then brought it closer to his face and focused on it. I rested a hand on his shoulder and stared too. After a moment, I saw the man in the card look up, startled.

"D-Dante?" I heard a meek voice pipe out from the card.

"Yeah. Can you bring us through? I just finished that job for your dad."

"I guess."

Dante held out one hand into the air and I saw the boy from the card clasp it and pull. I stepped forward when I felt Dante lurch and found myself in a room lit only by a slit of light peeking through heavy curtains. The boy from the card sat in front of me, his back facing a desk that was covered in partially-completed cards similar to the set Dante had pulled out earlier.

"Thanks, Oli," Dante said as he headed towards the door. The boy didn't answer. "Now let's go. Random's waiting." I stared at the young man in front of me for a moment more and then turned to follow Dante.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"Do what?" Dante asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"Change so fast," I replied, gesturing at his new outfit. He looked even more ridiculous than he had before, if that were even possible. He now wore the most ridiculous shirt I had ever seen. The torso was black and loose, cinched in at the waist with a black leather belt. The entirety of the crimson-and-black-striped sleeves were poofy as though they had once been parachute pants. However, they were held snug at the wrist with leather cuffs, tied tight with thick string.

Instead of slacks, he now wore black leggings so tight that I imagined his genitals would have been vulgarly outlined for all to see if not for how long his shirt was. His black boots went almost to his knee and were rolled over at the top. His hands were still gloved and he still wore that massive ring as well. On his head now perched a floppy, tri-cornered black hat with a long, red feather.

Dante laughed. "I thought you were going to say something about my little teleporting trick back there," he said. "Which, by the way, is called trumping." I made mental note of the information in case it was important. "As for my clothing, well, that has to do with shadows and such. It'll be explained to you soon, so don't worry." I realized then as I followed him down the hallway that we were speaking a different language. I figured that this, too, would be explained in time.

He threw open a set of doors. "Miss me?" He asked the bewildered cast of misfits gathered there.

Introductions were quickly run through. When it was my turn, I introduced myself with a plain "I'm Nils," in this new language I had magically picked up. Apparently there were two others there against their will. I couldn't help but wonder what was in store for the three of us.

"Sit down and join us for a quick round of poker," said the blonde man at the head of the table. "King Random," if I remembered correctly.

"Gladly!" Dante took a seat between Random and Gerard. I sat on the other side of Gerard with the slender man known as Sebastian to my right. Random dealt out the cards and we began to play what seemed to be poker, but the rules were slightly different. I caught on quickly and managed to win a hand after a few goes. Most of the table seemed surprised, and Random congratulated me.

A few more hands later, Sebastian threw his cards angrily down onto the table. "I'm sick of playing! Why are we here, damnit? I deserve an explanation!" He crossed his arms over his chest.

Diego uncrossed his arms and strode forward. "You think you deserve an explanation?" He snarled. "What about us? Random hasn't mentioned a word to us about this little plot of his."

"Yeah, well, we were taken from our homes against our will!" Sebastian shot back.

"And you're invading my home against my will," Diego snapped. "You don't belong here. Your presence offends me."

During this exchange, Random had collected the cards and now sat with his chin propped against his fist, watching with an amused little smirk on his face.

"Yeah, well, your attitude offends me!" Sebastian shouted.

Diego clutched at the sword at his belt, but hesitated. He removed his hand from the weapon and stared at Sebastian judgmentally. "How about this, then," he said. "How about one of you three fights me in a duel. I'll tolerate you if you win." Sebastian and the tan, shirtless boy I knew as "Jonah" stared at Diego and his tank-like armor as though he were crazy. "Any takers? Anyone?" Diego held his hands up as his eyes darted expectantly between the three of us.

I pushed my chair back. "I'll take you on if you get rid off all of your armor and your weapons," I said. I noticed an excited glimmer in Dante's eye.

Diego scoffed. "Fine by me," he said as he began to remove his armor. Random shuffled the cards and dealt out another hand while we waited. Shandrin won. I handed my cards back to Random and then turned to face Diego again. He was almost finished. I stretched my neck as I stood and took off my sports coat and tie, which I had only just now realized were a bit dusty from my earlier fight with the Dog. Gerard was kind enough to hold them for me.

"Ready?" I asked.

Diego pulled a knife from his sleeve and set it on top of his pile. "Ready." I cracked my knuckles as I watched him. He crouched down, low to the ground, one hand up near his torso while the other dangled freely. I kept my upright posture and watched him. I wasn't about to make the first move. I only hoped that he was foolish enough to make it instead.

He was. Diego charged me with a shout. I sidestepped the blow and landed a karate chop to the back of his neck. Diego staggered, but didn't drop. Instead, he wrapped an arm around my waist and attempted to grapple with me. I sighed and yanked one arm behind his back. Diego grunted in pain as I felt his grip on me loosen.

"Are you about done?" I asked over the roars of applause and laughter from the table.

Diego gave one last struggle before going limp. I let him go and returned to my place at the table. Though I'm a hearty guy, the pat on the back Gerard gave me after he returned my things to me knocked all the air out of my lungs. I muffled a cough as I fixed my tie. Diego collected his gear and went back to his father, who smacked him in the back of the head with an armored hand.

Random wiped a tear from his eye as he finally managed to stop laughing. "Sorry. That was too perfect," he chuckled. "Anyway, yes, you're right. You do deserve to know." He gestured down at the massive ruby around his neck. I guess rubies were fashionable here. "This is the Jewel of Judgment," he said. "The armies of Chaos have been trying to steal it. I had Shandrin, Oliver, Bernard, Benedict, and Dante go on a secret mission to gather up any Amberites who had been born in shadow. However, every time they found someone, it was too late; the forces of Chaos always beat them there. I heard that what the Dogs left was always…messy."

This was the second time shadow had been mentioned. I made a mental note to ask about it later.

"There was a Dog there when I went to pick up Nils," Dante piped up. "I shot it dead, but it seemed like Nils was taking care of it just fine himself." Dante shot Diego a smug look.

"Really!" Random glanced at Shandrin and Bernard. "Did either of you run into a Dog?" They both shook their heads.

"There was a Chihuahua in some old lady's stroller on my way to school." Sebastian said.

"I'm pretty sure that the Dogs they're talking about are dog-headed humans, like the one that ambushed me," I said.

"I'd say I didn't believe you, but I've seen weirder today," Sebastian said with a shrug. "What does Chaos, -whoever, whatever they are - want with that big ol' rock, anyway?"

"This 'big ol' rock' is the symbol of the king of Amber and one of the most powerful weapons we have. It can control weather, among other things." Random explained. "I'm not entirely sure why Chaos wants it or why they've been so desperate for it recently."

"You said you were looking for Amberites," Jonah said slowly. "Does that mean we're Amberites?"

Random nodded. "You three are of the royal blood of Amber, which means you're related to everyone in this room."

"Son of a DAMNIT!" Sebastian slammed a fist onto the table. After noticing everyone staring at him, however, he quickly apologized for his outburst.

Royalty? My father hadn't mentioned anything about that. Interesting…

"Let me get this straight…" Diego's father, Julian, stood and slowly walked toward us. "You had a secret mission to collect a bunch of bastard children from shadow… to protect the jewel? What, were you planning on making an army out of them?"

Random nodded. "To be honest, there originally were enough of them to make an army. Now, however, only these three remain."

"So what's the plan, then?" Julian asked.

Random shrugged. "Well, I'm not sure anymore," he admitted. "I had an awesome plan, but that kinda fell through. However, these three individuals may still be able to help us out a bit."

Julian scoffed, but said nothing more. I imagined that the conversation would pick up again once we were out of hearing range.

"Now," Random said. "I want the three of you to go see Caine. He should be able to tell us who your Amberite parent is. But first things first! Shandrin and Dante, please escort them to the basement. I want the three of you to walk what is rightfully yours by blood: the pattern."


	4. Chapter 4

Dante could probably talk forever if he wanted to.

From the moment we left the library, he started talking and had yet to give anyone enough room to squeeze a word in edgewise. Though he did seem to know a lot, ranging from local affairs to the history of this place, I was having trouble following him. He kept mentioning words I didn't understand or names I didn't recognize and then would never really explain them.

For a while, he rambled on and on about an event called "the Patternfall War," whatever that was. Then, he told us about his favorite shadows. My best guess was that shadows were like alternate dimensions. Apparently, this guy traveled through these dimensions an awful lot. As we made our way downstairs, he started to talk about lineage, starting from a man named "Dworkin," whose union with a Unicorn created Oberon, the first prince of Amber. After a brief run-through of Oberon's children, he started in on the most recent generation of Amberites.

"Bernard was born in shadow during the Patternfall War," Dante went on. "Someplace known as Avalon, I heard. Benedict, his father, is apparently a powerful lord there. Anyway, Benedict didn't even know he had a son until he returned to Avalon several years after Bernard's birth. Bernard's only been to Amber a handful of times. He and his dad stay in Avalon most of the time. I guess Benedict's settled down a bit or something. He used to never stay in one place for too long.

"Anyway, Diego. He's an interesting character. His father is Julian, but Caine fancied Diego's mother as well, so there are a few rumors that Diego is actually Caine's child. The two are pretty close. Caine was even Diego's mentor when it came to swordplay. Well, more like knifeplay. Caine uses throwing knives, you see. Diego does as well, though he also carries that sword of his. Guess it's mostly for show. Never seen him use it except for when he's trying to be intimidating. But even if Diego is really Caine's kid, no one but Caine will ever know. See, Caine's the only one still reachable by trump who is good enough with the whole psychic mumbo jumbo thing to tell parentage. Rather convenient for him, I'd say.

"And then there's me. My mom's a princess of Rebma. She's the daughter of Moire and Corwin. His brother Bleys is my father, so I'm a product of incest. Not like that's rare around here or anything. Well, not that any of the others are born from incestuous relationships or anything. I'm the only one. I think. But incestuous thoughts are pretty common. No one really talks about them too much, though, but it happens. Apparently, my aunts Fiona and Flora were pretty flirty with their brothers. Not that I'd know. I never met them. They're off in shadow, last I heard, and no one seems to be able to reach them by trump. Anyway-"

"Hey," Sebastian interrupted. "Whatever-your-name-is. I don't need to hear the entire history of everyone and everything. I'm more interested in where we're going. I don't like the looks of all these prison cells."

Nils nodded. "I was held in a cell like this for many years," he said. He let his fingers brush one of the doors as we passed. "They only let me out long after the war was over. If you intend on putting me in another cell, good luck."

I'll be honest; this Nils guy made me nervous. He was tall - the tallest of our group - and formidable. I had just watched him take out Diego in mere moments, and Diego had looked pretty tough. The tailored suit he wore reminded me of a mobster. If he had been in jail, then maybe he really was one. I wasn't about to ask, though. I wasn't stupid.

"My name's Dante, and we aren't going to arrest you," Dante said with an amused chuckle. "It's just the unfortunate part of taking this route."

"The pattern isn't too much further," Shandrin said. She was leading the way. I could barely see her back outlined in the light from Dante's lantern. Maybe she really was blind if she could navigate her way so skillfully with so little light.

"Yeah, well, what's this 'pattern' thing, then? I'm not much into sewing. I'm more of a painter, sculptor… stuff that captures the essence of people, you know?"

So Sebastian was an artist? That actually explained a lot. I wasn't fond of him, but at least he wasn't so intimidating.

"You'd make a good trump artist," Shandrin commented. "To answer your question, though, the pattern is the symbol of order. By walking it, you gain power over shadow."

"Those other world things?" I asked.

Dante nodded. "Once you walk the pattern, you'll be able to walk through shadow. Say you're in a city in a shadow but want to go to a beach. You just start walking while manipulating shadow, and soon enough, you're at the beach of your dreams!"

"I could do that in Hawaii without any fancy tricks," I said.

Dante burst out laughing. I wasn't entirely sure what he found so funny.

"There are other powers associated with the pattern as well," Shandrin said. "But the ability to walk through shadow is the most important. From this power will stem all the others." She stopped in front of a heavy-looking door. She must come down here a lot, because she managed to find the key hanging on the wall and unlock the door without any assistance. She returned the key to its hook and, with Dante's help, shoved open the door.

An unnatural blue light washed over me. I blinked and stared. I had never seen anything like this before. A huge, elaborate design made from blue light filled most of the floor of this room. It wove inwards like a massive spider web. I followed Nils into the room for a closer look.

"So," Dante said, walking to the edge of the thing. "Who's first?"

After a few moments, Nils raised his hand. I should have expected as much.

Shandrin walked over to where we stood by the door. "There are a few things you should know before walking the pattern," she said as she swung her unseeing gaze over us. "First of all, you should not stop. Nothing is harder than starting again after you've stopped. Secondly, you may recall memories from your childhood or be faced with internal demons as you go. Don't mind them. Thirdly, do not leave the pattern for any reason or you may die."

I glanced at the other two who were about to walk the pattern. Sebastian looked about as nervous as I felt. I couldn't blame him. But Nils seemed totally unphased by this news. "I'm ready," he said.

Shandrin lightly touched his arm as he walked past her. Dante gave him a huge, dramatic bow. "Good luck!" He cheered as Nils placed one foot on the beginning of the pattern. Sparks billowed up from where his feet fell, but he continued to place one foot in front of the other in a stoic, mindless march.

Dante came over to stand beside me as I watched. "You know," he said, elbowing me playfully in the ribs. "I think you'd get a kick out of my birthplace, Rebma."

"Why?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of Nils. The sparks seemed to rise with each step he took. Already, the sparks were to his knees.

"You're from a place with a lot of beaches, right? Well, Rebma is entirely underwater."

I looked away from Nils. He seemed to be doing fine. "Underwater?" I asked, shocked.

"Yup! It's a mirror image of Amber, complete with its own backwards pattern. I walked that pattern when I was a kid. Seems it has the same properties as this one. My mom was pretty reluctant to let me walk it. Her cousin had walked the pattern of Rebma and vanished."

"Huh." I wasn't entirely sure I understood, but the concept of an underwater city was fascinating. Maybe I'd visit sometime.

I glanced back to view Nils' progress. He looked to be about halfway through. His suit was thoroughly soaked with sweat and the sparks were up to his shoulders by this point. However, he still had that same emotionless, stern expression on his face. It was more than a little creepy.

After a while, his pace slowed. Strain started to show on his face. However, he continued to push through and found himself standing in the middle.

"Great job!" Dante cheered.

"How do I get back?" Nils asked.

"Will yourself back over here," Shandrin said. "The pattern can teleport you anywhere in existence just by thinking about the place."

Nils nodded and closed his eyes. A few moments later, and he was standing back at the start of the pattern. Dante clasped a hand onto his shoulder and congratulated him again.

"I'll go next," I said quickly. From the relieved look on Sebastian's face, I figured he wasn't going to fight with me for dibs.

"Go ahead, then," Dante said with a theatrical sweep of his arm. "And good luck!"

"Thanks." I took a deep breath. Nils had done it pretty effortlessly, so it shouldn't be too bad, right? I just had to follow those guidelines and I would be fine. No stopping, no straying from the path, and ignore flashbacks and inner demons. How hard could it be?

I stepped forward and put my foot on the pattern. That wasn't so bad. I put my other foot on the pattern. So far, so good. I tried to lift my foot, but it felt like it was made of lead. I hauled my foot off the ground and thudded it in front of me. The next step was even harder. How had Nils managed to make this look so easy? I forced myself to keep going, terrified of what might happen to me if I stopped.

By the time the sparks were up to my knees, I felt like I was trying to walk against the pull of a rip tide. My breathing was heavy and rough. It was then that I hit a wall. Well, that's what it felt like, at least. The force slammed into my entire body like a semi. I gasped and tried not to stall. I pushed onward, forcing my feet to obey me. It felt like an eternity, but I eventually made my way through. I staggered. My body felt lighter for a moment. The going was easier now. I'd have to ask about what that was later. No time now. I had to focus or this thing was going to kill me.

I rounded a curve and then hit a straight path. Maybe there were just rough patches, but the overall thing was easy. Well, comparatively, at least. I could feel sweat pouring down my exposed back. I just had to keep walking. Don't stop. One foot in front of the other.

I then hit another wall similar to the first. I stumbled in surprise, but managed to keep my feet in place. I kept pushing desperately, hoping that it would let me through. My skull felt like it was going to split in two! However, it, too, parted eventually and I continued along my path. I wanted nothing more than to take a break and finish this later. I felt exhaustion all the way to my very core. Yet I still had to trudge onward. I was almost done now. Just one more curve and it looked like I was finished. I entered the curve and it felt like my entire being was torn apart. I think I cried out, but wasn't entirely sure. Keep walking. One foot in front of the other. Don't stall. I shoved forward with all my might.

I broke free and finished the pattern. I caught my breath in the center. My body shook. However, I wasn't about to collapse here.

Shandrin and Dante were applauding me from the other side of the pattern. "Hey! Teleport back now!" Dante called.

I panted for a bit and then called back, "can I really teleport anywhere from here?"

"Yeah!" Dante called back. "Anywhere you can imagine."

"Anywhere at all?"

"Yup!""And I just have to think about it?"

"Yup! Wait… Jonah…" Dante was starting to catch on. Shandrin looked like she had figured me out the second I first spoke. She had stopped clapping long before Dante had and stood there with pursed lips.

"Alright. I'll see you later!" I called as I focused on my dad's hotel.

Next thing I knew, I was standing in front of my door again. I pulled out my key card and unlocked the door. It was dark inside in spite of the open curtains. How long had I been gone? It only felt like two or three hours, but it was already nighttime. Had the cards really taken that long?

I sat down on my bed and picked up the landline. I gave my dad a quick call to let him know I'd be gone for a while. However, I left out the story about Amber and replaced it with a more believable tale about how I would be in Australia training for my first surfing competition. I hadn't left Amber to get away from those people. Instead, I just wanted to make sure my father didn't worry about me. Also, I wanted to get in that nap Bernard had stolen from me.

I curled up in bed and closed my eyes. I was asleep in moments.

A while later, I awoke to the sensation of flying. I opened my eyes to see Bernard again. Great. He had picked me up right out of my bed. Seeing that I was awake, he hoisted me over his massive shoulder. I couldn't help but be reminded of a St. Bernard as he took me back to Amber using that card of his father's.

I only wished he could've let me sleep a little longer.


	5. Chapter 5

Welp, there went Jonah. Shandrin didn't look amused at all as she pulled those cards out from between her perfect breasts and shuffled out a card with the image of the beefy man who had come with Jonah into the library. She stared at it blankly and then started to talk at it. Weird, but definitely not the weirdest thing I'd seen today.

When she finished, she turned to face me. Damn. Guess that meant it was my turn.

"This thing isn't going to kill me, is it?" I asked, trying to stall for just a little bit longer.

"It might," Shandrin said. "It depends on how strong you are mentally and physically."

"Fan-fucking-tastic." I walked over to the start of the pattern. Nils was able to walk it with no problem, but the guy looked tough. Jonah had managed it with some difficulties, but even he looked stronger than I was. I gritted my teeth. Might as well give it a shot. I had an idea of where I wanted to teleport when this was all over, and it would totally be worth it.

I started along the pattern. Already this was difficult. It felt like there were magnets in the soles of my shoes. It took a lot of effort just to take one step. I forced myself to keep going. I wasn't going to stop for anything. They had already warned me and I wasn't about to die. Not before I got a chance to teleport, at least.

I forced myself to continue. I was already starting to regret starting this challenge. I usually didn't put in this kind of effort to impress chicks. Well, not that it was necessarily my goal to impress Shandrin or anything. But still.

It was then that I hit something. "The hell?" I muttered through clenched teeth. It felt like I had run into one of those heavy theatrical curtains. Well, more accurately, it felt like I ran into a theatrical curtain that was weighed down by rocks while I was carrying the statue of David. I hesitated for a moment. Bad move. My foot felt like it had taken root into the floor! I tugged and tugged, panic rising in me. I was going to die like this! The pattern was going to eat me and I would never have sex again!

That thought gave me a surge of strength that let me start back up again and break through the curtain. Whoo! That was easy! I kept going, filled with confidence. The going was tough, but I could take it, especially if there were no more of those annoying blocks like that curtain thing.

Spoke too damn soon… And this one was even worse! I pushed harder than when I last had constipation. I wasn't going to stop again. I'd learned my lesson the last time. I focused on my feet as I felt sweat run down my back. Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop. Vaginavaginavaginavagina… I broke through the second barrier and continued my trek. I was worn out both mentally and physically. Another one of those, and I was toast!

The weird blue sparks were up to my chest at this point. They were making me nervous. Luckily, my clothes were so damn soaked with sweat that it would be impossible for them to catch fire.

As I neared the end, I recalled that both Jonah and Nils seemed to have trouble at about the point where I was. Great. Just great. Perfect. I slowed my pace, trying to prepare for what was ahead, but that only made walking more difficult. Damn. I started to walk faster, hoping that this would get it over with sooner.

I hit the last wall like a sack of bricks. The sparks rose up over my head. I couldn't see in front of me anymore. I tried to swear, but my mouth felt like it was glued shut. I felt like a fly that had slammed into the windshield of a car going over 100 MPH. I forced my feet to continue moving, even though I didn't know where the path was. I just hoped that I was staying on it. Steady…steady…! I kept pushing along, but only because I knew that stopping would kill me. Continuing like this only MIGHT kill me.

And then I was through. I staggered, stumbled and collapsed onto my back, gasping for air. I heard Shandrin and Dante cheering for me, but it sounded distant, hazy. I closed my eyes, wishing I was in better shape for the teleportation. It would be difficult to enjoy it like this.

I willed myself to my desired location. When I opened my eyes, I stared up at the best view in the room. It took Shandrin a few moments to realize where I was, and when she did, she took a few steps back and straightened that short little skirt of hers with a nervous laugh. I didn't apologize. I deserved a shot up her dress for what she put me through back there. I mean, seriously. What if I had died?

I got up and Dante clasped a hand on my shoulder, laughing. The guy was a little annoying, but he didn't seem half bad now. Nils and Shandrin didn't look so amused by my little stunt, however.

"While we wait for Jonah to return, we should take the two of you to see Caine," Shandrin said.

Oh yeah. The guy who was supposedly able to tell who our real dad was. I don't know how much I bought into that crap. My mom was quite the prude and was married long before I was born. Hell, my dad had to convince her that sex prevented cancer before she spread her legs the first time for him. I couldn't imagine her having the nerve to cheat on my old man.

Shandrin led the way, followed by Nils. Dante kept hold of my arm and talked my ear off the entire way to Caine's room. When we reached his room, Shandrin raised a hand and knocked. A voice male from inside called out in Thari asking who it was. Shandrin answered with just her name. There was some rustling inside and then a tall, dark-haired man answered the door. The guy was dressed like some ridiculous cross between a pirate and a cowboy. I fought hard to resist snickering.

"Caine," Shandrin said with a tiny nod, "this is Nils and Sebastian. Random ordered us to save them from the attacks from Chaos. They're both of Amber blood, but we need to know who their Amberite parents are."

Caine snorted. "But of course he doesn't tell me ahead of time." His green eyes darted between the two of us and then stayed focused on Nils, thankfully. "He's Corwin's. I don't even have to put any effort into it. He's his spitting image. Why would Random even ask me? The two of them were close. He should have guessed it himself."

"Just to be sure," Shandrin replied.

Caine sighed and walked over to Nils, put a hand on his shoulder, and stared deep into his eyes. Gaaaaaay… He pulled away after an awkwardly long time. "I was right," he said with a shrug. "He's Corwin's. How old are you? Did you know your father? Corwin has been missing for around 20 years."

"I'm 103," Nils replied. "I found that I stopped aging around World War 2. And I knew my father. His name was Karl, not Corwin."

I almost choked. This guy had to be joking. He only looked about 25. 30 was pushing it.

"He used a number of aliases back when he had no memories," Caine said dismissively. "Carl Corey was the one he used last. But I suppose everything makes sense now."

Why was he brushing off the fact that this guy just admitted that he was old enough to be _dead_?

"Now for this one," Caine turned toward me and reached out to put his hands on my shoulders.

"Whoa, there, buddy," I said, taking a step back. "I'm not about to let you get all handsy and romantic with me just so you can tell me some bull shit story about how my mom slept with some other guy while married to my dad. And I'm expected to believe that you're a psychic or something and you can just magically read my genes? What a load of crap! Do you think I'm stupid or something? Seriously, dude. You're not getting near me."

Caine's eyes narrowed and he whipped out one of the emerald-studded daggers tucked into his belt. I put my hands up and took another step back. Talk about an overreaction!

But instead of stabbing me, he flipped the dagger around so that he was holding it by the blade and offered it out to me hilt first. "Your attitude is horrible," he said as I hesitantly took the weapon. "You should keep a blade on you at all times or else you might find one buried in your back someday."

"Thank….er…wait, what?" What a doucher!

"Now, come here." Caine grabbed at my arm. I figured it would probably be a bad idea to stab him with his own dagger, much as I wanted to. I didn't want his creepy hands on me!

He placed his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes. After the first second, I was already feeling awkward. But he kept doing it, staring into my eyes with an intensity usually reserved for lovers. Blech.

Eventually, he pulled away and I quickly made distance between the two of us. He smirked at me. "Your father is Julian," he said.

"Who?" The name sounded familiar. I tried to remember the people who had been in the room when I arrived.

"The one off to the side. Diego's father." Dante said.

"What? I'm related to _those_ assholes?"

"I can see the resemblance," Nils said. Dante laughed his ass off. Shandrin and Caine each gave amused little chuckles. Why was this my life? I made a mental note to talk to my mom about her little fling when I got a chance. This shit wasn't cool.

Before I knew it, I was being herded back to the library. Julian's reaction to the news was, well, about the same as mine.

"That's impossible!" Julian leaped out of the chair he had been reclining in. "Caine, that bastard! I bet that _he_ is the real father, but he doesn't want to bother raising him!"

"Look, 'Dad,' I'm not exactly thrilled about this either," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. Julian just harrumphed and ignored me. Great. This was going to be the start of a fantastic relationship.

"Well, it's what Caine said," Random said with a dismissive shrug. "Why don't the two of you bond over some hunting?"

I didn't like how that suggestion seemed to give Julian an idea. I was going to die. Ef my life.

"Alright. Diego. Sebastian." He spat out my name like it had a bad taste. "We're going to Forest Arden."

I didn't want to go to some smelly forest! I lived in Seattle! How the hell was I expected to know what to do with nature, let alone how to hunt? I followed anyway, muttering under my breath all the things I wanted to say to their faces. I only held back because I kinda like living and didn't want to push things too hard when I was about to be alone with them for an extended amount of time. Mouthy as I was, I wasn't the type of person to tell two men armed with blades what I thought of them and their stupid hobby.

In spite of the fact that those teleport-y card things existed, we walked all the way to the forest. I was already worn out from walking to the castle and then doing that damn pattern thing. I just wanted a nap! I didn't want to bother with walking and hunting and all that crap.

I collapsed a few times during the trip, but Julian and Diego heckled me until I got back on my feet again. I started plotting my revenge. They only deserved the most horrible of tortures.

When Julian led us to a clearing with several buildings, I wanted to collapse again. However, I knew better. I already had bruises all over my back from where they decided to stomp on me at one point. This fucking family...

He and Diego started toward one of the buildings and I reluctantly followed. It turned out to be a stable. "Help him find a mount," Julian said to Diego.

Diego nodded and turned to me. It was then that his eyes lowered to my waist. "Caine?" He asked, gesturing to the dagger I had awkwardly tucked into my belt and then forgotten about. How was he just noticing this now?

"Yeah," I said, not sure what else to say. Diego pursed his lips and stared at it for a few more moments. I couldn't tell if he took it as a good or bad sign. Hell, he probably didn't even know himself.

He showed me to a plump, brown horse and helped me saddle up and mount the thing. Yuck. Why were there no cars here? Or guns? They could go to any dimension ever. You'd think they'd have lasers and ray guns and spaceships and shit. But no. I was stuck with a walking poopmobile and a bow Diego had handed me to try. A friggin' bow and a handful of arrows! I'd never even _seen_ a real bow before now! The heck?

"Ready?" Julian said from the back of his _massive_ horse. The thing was built like a hummer! I pitied the thing's mother. I mean, damn! She was probably wrecked for life after the delivery!

I muttered under my breath. Julian seemed to interpret this as a "yes."

"Let's get going then." He rode up to me and slapped my horse on the ass. It bolted. I fought to keep all of my bodily fluids inside my body. "Argh! How do I steer? Where's the breaks?" Diego and Julian ignored my cries and just laughed at me as they rode behind me, followed by the sounds of dogs. Of course they had dogs. They just had to be a huge medieval stereotype. "You sons of bitches! Ah!" Julian and his mega-horse tried to ride past me and my ride freaked the fuck out and dove off sharply to the right. I yanked on the reins and the horse made a horrible noise, but luckily stopped.

And of course Diego decided that was a good time to teach me how everything worked. Not before we started. Now. What a dick of a half brother. Luckily, I learned pretty fast and could follow them fairly well after a little practice.

As we rode on, I started to notice that things would start to change around me. At first, I noticed the trees. The leaves would be green one moment, but then yellowish the next. One second, they would be thick, but the next, they would be gangly. I rubbed my eyes. I had to be seeing things.

But then I noticed that the lighting would shift as well. Bird calls were different. Even the sky would change shade! The only consistency was the baying of the dogs I occasionally saw through the brush. The things were brutes! One of them could probably tear apart my horse in only a few bites!

"Did you slip me something?" I asked. "Because I'm experiencing the trippiest damn high right now."

Diego turned in his saddle to face me. "Father's leading the hellride," he said as though that explained something. Whatever the fuck a hellride was… Guess it was pretty fitting, though. I felt like I was in hell.

It felt like a good half hour before Julian blew a horn, causing the dogs to go wild. Julian took off, and I followed as closely as I felt safe following. We burst out into a huge clearing occupied by three massive…well, guess the closest things I'd ever seen to them were deer. They had deer faces and kinda deer-like bodies, only they were at least eight feet tall and had six legs. The elaborate antlers on one of them added a good two more feet. Oh, and the MFers were _on fire. _That's right. They were lit up from their hooves to the tops of their heads. The tips of the buck's horns were lit as well, looking like some sort of creepy candelabra.

The dogs had beaten us there and were tearing them apart. Some of the dogs were singed from the "fur" of those monstrosities! Blood from both the deer and the dogs was everywhere!

As I stared on in shock and horror, I heard a rustling behind me. I turned my mount around and saw another deer coming right at me, chased by the hounds. In a panic, I raised my bow, loaded an arrow, and fired.

The arrow dropped harmlessly from the bow, bouncing off my horse's neck before landing in the dust. Shit. My horse reared, dropping me on my butt, and bolted. In spite of my pain, I drew the dagger Caine had given me and held it out in front of me as I sat there on my very sore butt. It was the only thing between me and death. The buck was almost on top of me. I closed my eyes and hoped someone would step in.

One of those massive dogs tore into the thing's shoulder, knocking it off course and spraying hot blood everywhere. Covered in steaming blood, I did the only logical thing. I vomited. And cried. And babbled nonsensically. Another dog latched on to the deer's throat and tore it out. The gurgling death cry of the flaming beast inspired more of my lunch to leave my body.

I don't know how I could've enjoyed myself more.


	6. Chapter 6

After a light lunch and some friendly drinking with Gerard, Dante, and Random, I was led to a place where I could do some practice sword fighting. On our way there, I reflected on my father. So his real name was Corwin. Interesting. Now that I thought about it, I did remember him muttering about Amber and some pattern on one occasion before he had stepped out of my life. I had been young, only in my teens, so the memory was faint. So he had known of this place. However, Caine had mentioned something about memory loss, so maybe not. Either way, it didn't matter.

Dante grinned widely as he held the door to the courtyard open for both myself and Bernard. "I can't wait to see you sword fight!" He said eagerly as he followed behind us. "You're really good when unarmed! I wonder what you're like with a blade in your hand."

"Rusty," I replied as I chose a sword from a rack. Dante grabbed one as well, which I thought a bit odd considering that he had a rapier at his waist.

"Well, I'm sure it'll come back quickly." He swung his blade around a few times to test it and seemed to find it satisfactory. He seemed to assume that I would be fighting him first. No. I wanted to fight the big one. I turned to face Bernard and he drew the massive slab of metal from its sheath on his back, heaving it up with a grunt and then letting the tip rest on the ground. It didn't matter how many muscles the guy had; a sword like that one was going to weigh him down. I'd just go in for short, quick little cuts to tire him out. Fairly easy.

I swished my sword in a salute before diving in. Bernard swung his blade at me in a speed I wasn't expecting. Our swords rang out as they clashed. Mine didn't hold out and shattered under the force. The impact rattled through my entire body. Somehow, Bernard was able to turn his swing upward to avoid slicing off my head. Bernard handled that sword of his as though it were only as heavy as mine had been. That must mean that he had been trying to trick me with his show earlier. He probably was still holding back his strength to avoid letting me see his full potential. He was good.

Dante burst out laughing as I threw my hilt to the ground. "Are you sure you don't want to fight me?" He called, swishing his sword a few more times.

"Not yet," I replied as I went to get a new blade.

"Bernard's just going to break that one, too," Dante said as I selected what seemed to be a nice, sturdy weapon. "But at least he keeps the blacksmith in business!"

"I like the challenge he represents," I replied. "We can fight later."

"Don't underestimate Dante," Bernard warned. "He and I sparred just last week and I couldn't beat him once. He doesn't fight fair."

"Yeah. Says the man with the sword that weighs more than I do." Dante scoffed.

"Guess it's a good thing I don't fight fair either, then," I said with a smirk.

Bernard was both fast and strong. He could shatter my weapon effortlessly. But he seemed to have a habit of being cautious with his opponent. It was too easy for him to kill me with that sword of his, so he had to be extremely careful. I was sure I could use that as an advantage.

I charged him again, using the same move I had tried before. He swung at my blade and I let him smash it. As he changed the direction of his swing to avoid killing me, I continued forward and slammed my fist into his gut, putting all of my force behind the blow. He staggered backward, dug the tip of his blade into the dirt, and leaned on it as he held his stomach.

"Hey! That's how I fight!" Dante managed to say. He was doubled up with laughter, leaning on his own, smaller sword.

"You both fight dirty," Bernard said as he rubbed where he was hit. I guess the blow surprised him and knocked the wind out of him more than it actually hurt him.

"Yeah, well, as I told you before, if you wanted it to be a sword fight, you'd use a real sword, damnit." Dante said with a chuckle.

Bernard grimaced, but didn't seem to have a comeback.

"So… My turn now? Dante swished his sword eagerly.

Between the two of them, I got in a good work out. Bernard finally seemed to start to understand that it's not always in a fighter's best interest to play by the rules and started to pick up some tricks from us. I thought my punches smarted, but his would've shattered a lesser man.

When it grew dark, Dante led me to his room. There weren't any chambers prepared for us three newcomers, so Random had requested that we stay with our closest relatives to get to know them better. Dante was both my cousin and my nephew thanks to his father's incestuous relationship with my half sister, so I was assigned to his chambers for now. Once there, he ordered some servants to bring us a tray of bread, meat, and cheese and a few bottles of wine for dinner. It was simple but delicious.

As we ate, Dante told me more about my newly acquired power over shadow and how to use it. After dinner, he rolled us each a cigarette and we sat in his living chambers and smoked as he told me about all the different uses of the trumps.

"If you want, I have a spare deck I keep hidden around here," he said with a wink. I nodded and he went to rummage around his room. He returned with a box of the cards and handed them to me.

I extinguished my cigarette in an ash tray and then opened the box to flip through them. There were a handful of familiar faces in there, but most of the people I saw were strangers. I stopped on one that was the most familiar of them all: my father's card. I held it up and focused on it like Dante had told me. Nothing happened.

"If you're trying to call him, you're not going to reach him," Dante said as he put out his cigarette next to mine. "He's been missing for a long time. No one can reach him. Most people think he's dead." I grunted and returned the cards to their case. "Ah… Sorry about that… I didn't mean to make you depressed or anything."

"It doesn't matter. I haven't seen him in almost 90 years. I always assumed he was killed in the war."

"Oh, no, he survived the Patternfall War. Random knows that much. Random and Merlin both saw him after the war ended."

"A different war," I said, and then added "Who's Merlin?"

"Oh. He's my uncle. Guess that makes him your brother, huh? Well, he's missing too. Then again, he's probably missing because he's off in Chaos or something. He's rather fond of the place."

I had yet another sibling I had never met. How interesting. I hoped that I would get a chance to meet my new family sometime.

We talked a bit more about shadows and family before we decided to retire for the evening. I curled up on the couch in the living quarters while Dante took the bed in a separate room. He invited me into his room to stay on the floor, but I declined: the couch was more comfortable and I didn't want him to keep me awake with his constant talking.

I awoke what felt like only moments later. The room was dark and cool. I wasn't sure what had awoken me until I heard it again. There was rustling coming from Dante's room. I got up and made my way over to his door. Candlelight poured from the crack under the door. I knocked.

"Nils?" Came Dante's voice.

"It's me," I said as I started to push open the door. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Dante said. "But you don't need to get up. We'll take care of it ourselves." He looked like he had been awoken rudely. His fiery hair was mussed and his beard wasn't quite as sharp and neatly groomed as usual. Instead of the poofy-sleeved shirt, he wore a form-fitting black shirt that was missing one sleeve. Across his torso were all sorts of belts and buckles. The pants he wore were loose slacks. Instead of riding gloves, he wore gloves that only covered only part of his hands and wrists and only a few of his fingers: archer's gloves. He still wore that oversized ruby ring.

He pulled a belt fitted with a quiver of arrows around his waist. "Why aren't you fighting with the sword?" I asked as I watched him.

"Sword fighting is for fun," he said as he worked on fastening the belt. "In real battles, I prefer archery."

I paused, thinking. "If Amber's under attack, then I'll join you."

Dante grinned. "Random probably won't like that, but I think it would be a great experience. You're an excellent swordsman. I'm sure he won't mind as long as you come back alive."

"I don't intend on dying," I said. "Now, where can I find some armor and a weapon?"

Once Dante had finished his preparations, he led me out of his room and made sure I was properly outfitted. I noticed that there were a lot more guards in the halls than there had been during the day. They saluted us as we went past.

As we neared the doors to the castle, I could hear the sounds of battle. It sounded bad. Dante threw open the doors and I saw two of the largest armies I had ever seen. I followed Dante as he muscled his way through the ranks of reserve troops toward the front, where there was actual fighting. I heard a strange sound and looked up to see that the air above us was filled with arrows that rained down on the enemy, which seemed to consist mostly of humanoids, but was reinforced with dragons, manticores, and other monsters from myth. "Why aren't you joining the other archers?" I asked.

"Because I like to see the people I kill," Dante said with a shrug. "It makes it more personal. It's so empty an unfulfilling standing in the back where you'll never know if you've killed anything or not." He had a point. I remembered having similar feelings when I fought under Hitler.

Dante stopped when we had almost reached the front. "I'm going to stay here," he said as he readied a shot.

I gave him a nod, drew my sword, and continued onward. From here, I could see that the army was led by about six Dogs. They fought violently, raking at opponents with their sharp claws or gnawing on them with long fangs. One of them stood out. It stood about two feet taller than the rest of them, and the other Dogs were already at least seven feet tall. It was leaner, too, with long, skinny arms that drooped down to its knees. This one was fast. It would twist away from sword blows and then dart in for a swift killing blow. I wanted to fight it.

Unfortunately, the beast was far out of my way. I would have to fight a path through enemy ranks to get to it. I entered the battle and my blade found the throat of one of those humanoid things.

Near me was Bernard, who fought like an animal. He really had been holding back during our matches. His massive blade effortlessly cleaved a path in front of him.

I sliced through another enemy and then another. I looked up to see how far I was from that Dog. I was still a ways away. The dog was fighting a man dressed in orange, yellow, and brown. The man was slender and didn't look very tough, but carried himself boldly. I hadn't met this particular person yet. He didn't look like a typical soldier, so I figured that he must be one of the relatives I hadn't met.

The man was quite skilled with a blade, I had to admit. However, he still couldn't seem to land a blow on the nimble Dog. As I watched, the Dog picked up this man and threw him back into the ranks, knocking over several of our men.

I was even more determined to reach this beast, to test myself against its skill. I sliced through monster after monster as I made my way closer. Soon, I was almost there.

A silver-tipped arrow flitted through the air and buried itself in a manticore that had been behind the Dog I had been trying to reach. The Dog lifted its head and snarled. I looked back where the arrow had come from, half-expecting to see Dante. Instead, I saw a dark archer riding a pitch-black horse. He raised his bow again and fired. This shot didn't miss. The silvery arrow buried itself in the Dog's shoulder. It raised one hand to claw at the wound and then let out a howl before running off. The other Dogs followed. Soon, the enemy army began to retreat. We had won.

I went closer to the mysterious archer and saw that it was Caine. The man had perfect timing.

I gave him a quick salute and then started back toward Castle Amber, hoping to run into Dante. The sun was barely up. I could use a bit of rest before doing anything else. I passed the man I had seen challenge the tallest of the Dogs. Bernard was with him, checking to make sure he was unhurt. The man seemed a bit pale, but otherwise looked fine. I went over to them anyway to be sure.

"Are you sure you're alright, father?" I heard Bernard say.

Father? I thought back on Dante's blather on our way to the pattern. Right. This must be Benedict.

"I'm fine." He looked over at me. Slowly, he appraised me with his eyes. Bernard noticed that his father seemed distracted and turned to face me.

"Nils!" He said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

He must not have noticed me in the fray. I suppose he had seemed rather focused on fighting.

"I followed Dante here," I replied. "I was looking for him when I spotted you."

"I…see…" Bernard pursed his lips. Benedict had stopped staring at me and was muttering to himself. I realized that he must have received a trump call.

After a while, he turned to face the two of us. "Come with me," he said. "We're going to Random's chambers."

I only then realized I hadn't seen Random during the fight. The sky was also cloudless and nice. The Jewel of Judgment, which could control weather, could have been useful during the fight. The fact that he was obviously absent and now were going to his rooms shook me. Maybe we hadn't been as victorious as I had assumed.


	7. Chapter 7

I awoke to the soft murmur of a woman's voice. I lay there, looking around, trying to remember what happened. Oh yeah. I was in Amber. After Bernard had brought me back, Shandrin had taken me to see Caine. It turned out that I was the son of Shandrin and Oliver's older brother, Martin. I had known that my father back in Hawaii wasn't really related to me. He was actually my step-father, but we were really close. However, I never would have imagined that my father was the eldest son of a king! She had told Oliver and Random, who both seemed really excited. Random even commented that I looked a bit like Martin, only really, really tan. Being part Hawaiian and living in the tropics will do that. I then went with Oliver and Shandrin to Shandrin's rooms to talk with them and get to know them better.

Shandrin. That was who I could hear talking. She must have been talking on one of those trumps…

Shandrin and Oliver were both really into those trump cards, so I ended up learning a lot from the two of them. After some time, Shandrin had left me alone with Oliver for a few hours and returned with a magical surfboard that she claimed could surf any wave: light, sound, radio, micro. It also could transform itself into my own personal deck of trumps. The concept was amazing! I couldn't wait to try it out.

After a while, Oliver left to sleep in his own room. I stayed on the floor of Shandrin's room and had eventually fallen asleep.

But now, I was awake. I pretended to still be asleep as I tried to listen in on Shandrin's conversation, but she was too far away and speaking too softly. I couldn't even tell who she was talking to. Oliver? Random? Someone else entirely? Oh well. I would ask her about it in the morning, I guess. I closed my eyes and started to drift back to sleep. Just when I had started to doze off again, I was jerked away by a loud shriek. "Father!"

I opened my eyes and sat up. "What's wrong, Shandrin?" I asked. It felt like it was early: the air was cool and my body felt heavy with its need to sleep. However, that didn't matter if something was wrong with the king.

"Something happened to Father!" She cried as she frantically searched her trump deck. She pulled out an image of a room similar to hers. I grabbed her arm so that I would join her if she trumped anywhere. I didn't know what was going on, but I didn't want her to end up hurt or in danger.

She focused on the card and the place became more real. Soon, we were there in what must've been Random's rooms. What I saw wasn't good.

There was blood everywhere. Random lay on the ground, barely conscious. His side had been torn open and was pouring blood everywhere. Shandrin went to his side and quickly found the wound and started to try to take care of him.

A woman stood a few feet away from him. She was pale with pure-white hair. Her blood-stained, silky clothing, which flowed around her as though pushed by an invisible breeze, had also once been white. Even her large, wide eyes were pure white, or at least seemed that way at first. I then noticed that they were just a very pale blue with grey pupils.

In one hand, she held a thick sword that looked like it had been made from quartz crystals. Smaller crystalline structures branched off of the main one that made up the blade. The weapon dripped with blood. In her other hand, she held the Jewel of Judgment.

Without thinking, I charged at the woman. As I ran toward her, she started to get sort of hazy and flat. Her edges turned colorful, which looked weird against the monochrome of her body. She vanished as I reached her. I stumbled to a stop and looked around the room frantically. She was gone. Damn… But I guess her little vanishing act explained how she even got in here in the first place.

"What happened, Father?" I turned as I heard Shandrin's voice and went over to where she was with Random, who seemed to be less hurt than I had assumed. He still looked pretty pale, though. I guess I had been thrown off by the amount of blood and how wicked that sword looked. Shandrin had managed to stop the bleeding and cleaned the wound, which was fairly shallow. I guess he had managed to escape the worst of the blow somehow.

"There was someone behind me," Random said as Shandrin fetched a box full of medical supplies. "She attacked me before I knew what was happening and took-" He looked my way. "Jonah, where's the jewel? Is it safe?"

I shook my head. "She took it."

He paled further and heaved a huge, shuttering sigh. "This isn't good at all," he said as he let Shandrin patch up his wound. If I had been in his position, I'm not sure I would've trusted a blind girl to do my stitches.

"An agent of Chaos has the Jewel of Judgment?" Shandrin asked hesitantly, as though hoping she misunderstood.

"It seems that way, yes," Random said with a grimace. "After the fighting is over, I'll call together the rest of the family. Something needs to be done."

"Fighting?" I asked.

Random nodded. "A wave of creatures from Chaos is attacking Amber," he answered. "But it's nothing our army can't handle. It was a surprisingly small, unorganized attack, but I'm pretty sure that it was just a distraction so that the assassin could slip in." Shandrin pursed her lips as she finished the stitches. She had done a surprisingly neat job. I was starting to doubt her blindness.

"What will we do?" Shandrin asked as she sat back on he heels.

Random gingerly pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked at his wound. "Well, I'm thinking about going to Chaos to speak with the king. Maybe I can find out what they even need the jewel for and, since they have it, I might as well work on negotiating a ceasefire. Guess I should've tried that a long time ago, but I was lazy and, I suppose, cocky."

"You can't go," Shandrin insisted. "You're wounded! You shouldn't travel anywhere, especially not the Courts, while you're like this! Not to mention that Amber needs you. You're our king! I'll go instead."

"But-"

"I'm not letting you go do something reckless, Father," Shandrin said forcefully. "I know you want to go to show your goodwill, but what will happen if they just arrest you on sight? Amber needs you to keep order in the family. Now is not a good time for your brothers to start up another war over who keeps the throne warm."

Random grimaced. "You have a good point," he said slowly.

"I'll go, too," I said. I could kind of see where Shandrin was going with this. She was Random's daughter. Her going instead of him should still be a pretty impressive display. Having two direct descendants of the king should send an even stronger message of how important this was. Plus, I kinda wanted to see this "Courts of Chaos" place.

Random seemed a bit hesitant, but nodded. Shandrin pulled out her trumps. "I'll start contacting our relatives," she said as she pulled out a trump of her brother.

The two of them worked together to call all of the family, and soon we were all together in Random's quarters. Once everyone had assembled, King Random began his explanation of the situation. "The Jewel is gone."


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry for taking so long to write the next chapter. Work has been keeping me busy. After I finish with the latest project, I'll be able to update more frequently. However, for the next month or so, updates will be spotty at best. I'm sorry.

* * *

Julian was more than a dick. He was also a creepy motherfucker. We returned back to his place after the "hunt" and he led me inside. I couldn't walk straight. My balls felt raw from that horse ride, which only made Diego and Julian poke more fun at me. Bastards.

Anyway, he led me inside. The house was large and roomy, and it would've been welcoming, too, if not for the fact that every inch of available wall space was covered in dead animal. I dry heaved the second I walked in the door. Good thing watching that "deer" get brutally murdered in front of me emptied out my gut, or I would've ruined the bear-rat-agator rug I was standing on! Yeah. You heard me. And that was one of the more normal creatures. I hoped to whatever God was out there that I wouldn't have to stay in this creepy-ass place after tonight.

Diego led me to a room upstairs that luckily only had one mounted head on the wall. I made a point of locking the door and then stuck a cigarette in my mouth. I didn't care if I was hungry. I was going to get some nicotine in me and then pass the fuck out. Screw today! I took out my lighter and flicked it. Nothing happened. Weird. It was a new lighter. I tried again a few times. Nothing. Damn.

Luckily, I had a book of matches on me as well. I'm always prepared! I took one out and struck it. Nothing. Seriously? Was this place so fucking primitive that they didn't even have _fire? _I threw the matchbook and lighter across the room and set the cigarette and the knife on the edge of my bed. Ef my life.

I must've fallen asleep the second my head hit the pillow. The next thing I knew, I was rudely awoken at oh-dear-god a.m. by loud knocking at my door.

"Sebastian! Get up! There's an attack on Amber!"

"Fuck Amber!" I mumbled back loudly as I rolled over and covered my head with the pillow. The door was locked. He'd just have to do deal with the problem himself until it was a more reasonable time to get up. Like noon.

The knocking stopped and I heard a faint clinking sound. Well shit. Of course he'd have a key.

Julian burst open the door, grabbed me by my shirt, and hoisted me up onto my feet. "Get up!"

"Fuck y-" he hit me across my face. "OW! What the hell?" I shouted. He hit me again. "Son of a bitch!" He let me go, and I sat down heavily on the edge of my bed, holding my cheek and muttering obscenities.

"Put on some armor, grab a weapon, saddle up, and meet me out front in ten minutes, or the Army of Chaos will be the least of your concerns."

I rubbed my cheek as I watched him leave. Just who did he think he was, anyway?

Still, I figured he'd probably come back to do something horrible to me if I didn't get ready, so I managed to haul my pain-filled body off my bed (grabbing that knife Caine had given me just to be safe) and headed downstairs.

I chose leather armor because 1. the other stuff looked heavy, hot, and uncomfortable, and 2. I didn't want to look like a shiny little bitch like the rest of my "family." I then went through the weapons and chose a large, double-bladed axe that screamed "I fuck shit up."

For a mount, I chose the same horse as yesterday. I wanted to be consistent. Lucky for me, there was some guy in the stables to help me put on the saddle and all that other stuff horses need. I couldn't help but wonder if Random had a suggestion box where I could suggest something like "hummers" or "tanks."

I mounted the horse and the stable helper person handed me my axe. All set, I went out to the front of the house where my father and half-brother waited. They smirked at me as I rode up and then dug their heels into their horses' sides. I followed, though my body didn't appreciate it. Julian blew that hunting horn of his and soon we were surrounded by a bunch of his annoying yappy dogs. A few moments later, and we had a whole army of dudes on horses thundering through the forest.

After I while, I saw what looked like a giant lizard monster in the distance. Ef that. I pulled on my reins to slow my horse. I wasn't about to fight the lizard-version of that deer just because my dad said I should. Julian glanced back at me. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not fighting a dragon!" I shouted back.

"Run off, and a dragon will be the least of your worries!" He snapped back. "Stop being such a weakling! If I'd had a daughter instead of you, I'd have one more child who could fight than I do now!" I groaned and kicked my horse in the sides. Well, at least if I died, this damn nightmare would be over.

Wait… Had he called that thing a dragon? Just like I had? Holy shit! I was only being sarcastic!

I didn't have time to think about it more than that. We found the enemy army. Julian led the cavalry into the flank of the marching line of monsters. I hesitated, but joined the fray as archers rained down arrows on the larger creatures. I didn't want one of those arrows in my back.

I took on a monster that looked fairly human, only it had weird joints and spurs on its hands. My axe cleaved through its shoulder, wedging itself into the torso. I was so glad I hadn't had time for breakfast. The monster's body made a horrible squelching sound as I yanked out my axe. "I got one! Did you see that Julian? Booya!" I said loudly before realizing that my dad and a handful of dogs were too busy taking down what seemed to be a manticore. I shut my mouth and went back to killing those human-like things.

Soon, we had blown through their ranks. Half of the cavalry focused on the forces that were still marching toward Amber while the other half, myself included, worked on keeping more from getting through. I made sure to keep my focus on the tinier creatures and left the dragons and shit to the dogs. They took them down just fine.

Suddenly, I heard a faint howl over the sounds of battle. The enemy started to pull away. Had that been the cue for their retreat? Did they mean we won? We won! Even though I was sore, sickened, and tired, I felt a wave of energy fill me at our victory. Whoo! Who's #1? Amber's #1! Suck it, Chaos!

I rode over to where my brother and father were working together to finish off a dragon and my earlier train of thought returned to me. "That's really a dragon, isn't it?" I asked.

Julian turned to look at me and stared at me for several moments. "Congratulations," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "You can identify basic monsters."

I glared at him and grumbled under my breath. Smart ass.

"What is it?" Julian asked under his breath.

"What?" I replied. He lifted a hand to tell me to stop talking and he continued his little conversation with himself. What the hell was his problem? He wasn't the one who was awakened by being slapped and then forced into battle.

Diego rode over, a concerned look on his face. Julian seemed to be ready to address us now. He turned his massive horse toward the Castle Amber. "There was an attempt on Random's life," he said.

"What?" I followed him as he brought his horse to a trot. My horse had to gallop to keep up. I wondered what sorts of steroids he put in that bad boy's water.

"Someone tried to kill him. An assassin. Stabby stabby."

"Shut up," I muttered, too worn out to take his teasing right now. The rest of the ride was quiet. I didn't want to ask any more questions and sound like an idiot. Julian seemed grateful for this and didn't want to give me any fodder. Plus, he also seemed pretty focused on getting to Amber quickly. Diego just sat there as though not sure of what to think. I sympathized with him. I had no idea what had happened or why my life had changed from screwing bitches to slaying dragons.

We were the last people in Random's chambers. Once the three of us got situated, Random, who was sitting in a chair, began to talk. If this dude had truly been shanked, then he was taking it like a friggin' champ! There was no hint of pain on his face. He didn't even stutter as he told us about the attack. Jeez!

"…and that's why I'm sending Shandrin and Jonah to Chaos." Random finished. There was an uncomfortable silence.

Julian gripped my shoulder. "Take this one along, too," he said loudly.

"Wait. What?" I glared at him. There was no way I was going to the place where all those monsters had come from!

"What? You'd rather stay here and bond more with me?" Julian asked. "I'm touched. We can go hunting more."

Talk about a rock and a hard place! I figured I'd go with the hard place. I mean, Shandrin was going, if you know what I mean. "Fine. Might as well protect the two of you or something," I muttered. Shandrin smiled in my direction and I felt some of the pain in my body melt away.

"You'll want some better clothes," Random said looking me over. "And maybe fix your armor."

"Why? What's wrong with my armor?" I asked.

"It's backwards."

"Son of a damnit!" I remembered Julian and Diego's smirks as I rode up to them before the fight. The little bastards! They knew and hadn't bothered telling me!

"Dante," Random said. "Would you mind going with Sebastian and Jonah to pick out some more fitting clothes?"

Dante gave a salute and started to lead the two of us out of the room. I noticed now that he was dressed slightly less ridiculously than he had been the day before. The guy was built! I hadn't noticed his muscles with all of the poofy shit he had been wearing earlier, but the shirt he now wore revealed that he was almost as muscular as Bernard!

He led me and Jonah to a room that was filled to the brim with renaissance faire clothes. "Take whatever you need," Dante said as he closed the door to give us some privacy.

Jonah seemed relieved to get out of him swim trunks and into some real clothes. I didn't blame him. But I didn't want to abandon my awesomely tacky ensemble, even though it was now dirty and splattered with blood. I half-heartedly dug through the clothes. Nothing seemed quite right for me.

Finally, I found some faded yellow pants that looked like they'd fit. I changed into them quickly. Perfect. By this time, Jonah had found most of an outfit and was trying on a pair of gloves. That wasn't a bad idea. I found some brown leather gloves and tried them. Perfect fit. I kept searching and eventually found a green shirt with puffy shoulders decorated with orange trim. The color combination was terrible. It was perfect. I pulled it on and glanced at Jonah. He had given up on the gloves and had decided on a cape instead. He was really getting into his costume.

Seeing that I was finished, Dante stepped in and helped me find a nice belt with a place to put my dagger and then helped me rig a way to carry my axe on my back without having to haul it around. "Shouldn't I put back on my armor?" I asked.

"Nah," Dante replied. "You probably shouldn't even bring your weapons."

"I'm not going into enemy territory without a way to defend myself," I shot back.

Dante chuckled. "Fair enough."

On our way back to Random's quarters, Dante led us to the kitchen, where he grabbed us some food and a pot of delicious awake juice: coffee. He had us sit at a small table by a window as we ate. My first meal in Amber. Even though it was simple, it tasted amazing. The coffee was just what I needed. As we finished off the food, Dante pulled out a cigarette and offered it to Jonah, who refused. He then offered it to me and I snatched it from his fingers.

"Do you have a light?" I asked hopefully. He laughed and lit a match before leaning in to light my smoke for me.

"It's the local stuff," he said as he shook out the match. "It might be a little different than what you're used to." I didn't care.

The two of us sat and smoked and drank coffee as Jonah finished off the last of the food. I didn't want to leave that spot. However, once the food and coffee were both gone and we had finished with our cigarettes, we were led right back to Random's bedroom. It had cleared out a lot. Nils, Bernard, and some guy I'd never seen before were still there, however, talking to Random. Shandrin was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, where'd Shandrin go?" I asked, interrupting the new guy's description of what I assumed was the fight from the front.

"She's changing." Bernard said. The new guy gave me a nasty look and continued his descriptions of these weird dog-man monsters that I was glad I didn't run into myself.

"How strong were they?" Random asked. The man pursed his lips and didn't answer.

"The big one was tough," Nils said. "Benedict couldn't land a blow on it and then it picked him up and threw him like a rag doll."

Random gasped and his eyes widened. The new guy (Benedict? I noticed now that he had a few scrapes and bruises. Also, Nils had glanced at him when he said the name) didn't look happy.

"What?" I asked, looking around. "What's wrong?"

Dante grabbed my shoulder and leaned in close. "Benedict is the best fighter in all of existence," he said in a loud whisper. "His war tactics and skills with every weapon ever created are unrivaled. People don't just dodge his blows."

"Oh." And we were going right to the home of the dog-thing that had beaten him? Fantastic. I wanted to rewind my life back to breakfast or, better yet, before I even knew this place existed.

Shandrin entered the room at that moment. She looked absolutely stunning.

The dress she wore seemed to shimmer and shift between baby blue and seafoam green as she moved. The material clung to her body like a second skin. A deep v-neck ran down the front, the material just barely covering her nipples. The only thing keeping her boobs decent seemed to be hopes and prayers. I silently hoped that my hopes and prayers were stronger.

The v-neck stopped a few inches below her belly button. Any lower, and it would have been vulgar. It was a shame, really, that it stopped so soon.

Her sleeves were long and draped at the ends. With her arms hanging at her sides, the tips of her sleeves almost touched the ground.

The bottom of the dress was made of the same clingy material. Both sides of the skirt had slits all the way up to the top of her hip. Three delicate silver chains - one at the top, one near the middle, and one near the bottom - kept the fabric from exposing too much. I silently willed them to break.

The v-neck showed that Shandrin wasn't wearing a bra. The slits in the skirt were high enough that I should've seen the sides her panties if she had been wearing any. Mother of God… She wasn't wearing any underwear! I didn't care if she was my cousin and the king's daughter; I had a raging boner that wasn't going to quit until it wrecked at least one of her holes.

"Is everyone ready?" She asked. I glanced up and noticed for the first time that her eyes were covered by a blindfold made from the same clingy material that her dress was made from. In the center of the blindfold was the large image of an eye, pained on in thick black lines. The whites of the eye had also been painted onto the fabric. The iris was merely the unpainted cloth. However, there was no pupil. Creepy, but not creepy enough to ruin my boner.

"I suppose," Jonah said.

Dante gave me a pat on the back. I tried not to flinch too much as he hit a sore spot. "Good luck, buddy!" He said. "Hope you come back in one piece!"

"Thanks," I replied as Shandrin pulled out a sketch of the weirdest shit I'd ever seen. It was like looking at a heavily pixilated version of Van Gogh's Starry Night while tripping on acid.

"What is that?" Jonah asked. I was grateful that I wasn't the one asking questions for a change.

"It's a trump sketch of the Courts," Shandrin explained. "Gather close. It's time to leave."


	9. Chapter 9

Before starting this chapter, I just wanted to say that I did the math and this chapter is roughly the one quarter mark in the story. Also, I changed Chaos just a little to fit my designs. Just a little heads up.

* * *

The actual place was just as weird as the drawing, only there was a lot more movement. The sky seemed to teeter like a top that was losing momentum. All the while, it also shook and shimmered as the stars darted around like living things. It made me a bit ill to watch the turning and swaying, so I tried to focus on Shandrin's back as she led us into a rather gloomy-looking castle. Sebastian, on the other hand, wouldn't stop talking about how tripy everything was. I was really hoping that his behavior wouldn't be considered too offensive.

A pair of guards stopped us at the gates, but let us continue after Shandrin explained that we were emissaries from Amber. One of the two guards came with us, probably mostly because of Sebastian. I wasn't really liking Julian's decision to volunteer him to join us.

The inside of the palace was brighter and more inviting than the outside. However, it was just as strange as that weird sky. My brain was having trouble processing all of the impossible angles that connected things together or how the light behaved like a liquid. I tried my best to ignore it. However, there was one thing that I couldn't ignore.

Ahead of us, a woman had just left a large chamber and was coming towards us. She had milky skin and matching hair. Her clothes were white, silky, and flowing, though I remembered them stained with my grandfather's blood. I slowed as she approached and then stopped. Shandrin and Sebastian didn't seem to notice. I stared at her, wondering if she recognized me. I tried to think of something to say to alert Shandrin, but nothing came to mind.

Her ghostly eyes narrowed at me as she noticed me stopped in the hall. "Impudent Amberite," she spat in Thari as she strode past me.

"Thief," I muttered back before I knew what I was saying. She spun on her heel to face me. A few nearby guards drew their blades, but otherwise didn't move. Sebastian noticed me at this points and stopped Shandrin. The two started whispering. I assumed Sebastian was letting Shandrin know what was happening.

"You," the woman said through clenched teeth. "You come into _my _home and dare accuse me of being a petty thief?!"

"Not petty," I corrected. "After all, you did steal the Jewel of Judgment and attacked Random."

She laughed. "Oh really now. Do you have proof?"

"I saw you."

"That means absolutely nothing," she said with a glower.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked over to see Shandrin. "The people of Chaos are shapeshifters," she said softly. "She might be telling the truth."

"Oh." Well, I felt a little like an idiot now. "Do you have any enemies that can change into you?" I asked, trying to sound a little more polite.

"Too many to count," she said as her face twisted into a sneer. "Though it's interesting to know that you lost the Eye of the Serpent and that your king is dead. What a shame." She turned and started to walk away.

"Random's still alive," I replied. "And how can I know for sure that you didn't do it?"

"First of all," she said as she continued to walk away. "I'm not stupid enough to go in my true form. Secondly, if I had done it, your king wouldn't have survived." She rounded a corner and was gone before I could ask what she meant when she said "Eye of the Serpent."

Shandring sighed and squeezed my shoulder. "Try to avoid insulting the ladies of the court," she said softly. "That was Lady Damuiné. She's from a prominent house and is favored by King Therel."

Great. So I had just insulted someone close to the king we were here to see. I decided then that I was going to keep my mouth shut around strangers for the rest of our visit so I didn't screw things up worse. "So the assassin was a shapeshifter, then?" I asked, curious.

"Most of the people in Chaos can change their shape," Shandrin explained as she led me back to where Sebastian and the two guards stood waiting. "I've never met an Amberite or a person from shadow who could."

I decided then that I would never share my special ability with them. Uncle Merle had taught me how to use my shape shifting powers, which I had discovered on accident. Did that mean I had a little Chaos in me as well?

"Can people from Chaos teleport?" I asked suddenly.

"Hm?"

"Well, the attacker, she started to shimmer and turned rainbow-colored and then just faded away."

Shandrin paled. "I didn't realize Chaos even had trumps," she murmured as we approached a large pair of doors.

"Huh?" Sebastian had been surprisingly quiet since my confrontation with Lady Damuiné, so the sudden return of his voice startled me.

"What Jonah just told me sounded like how a person looks when pulled through a trump," Shandrin explained, her voice lowering as the huge doors creaked open.

Sebastian looked like he was going to ask another question, so I placed a hand on his shoulder and placed a finger on my lips quickly. I had already screwed this up enough. Sebastian was unpredictable and crude. It was risky for him to even open his mouth once we were in front of the king.

Sebastian made a face at me and then followed Shandrin into the throne room. There aren't words to explain how this room looked. It was elegant and beautiful. However, the way the walls swam with shimmering, multi-colored light made me a little dizzy. The guards were more plentiful here. Most of these guards had pole arms of some sort, but some carried swords tucked away in scabbards and a handful bore weapons that I'd never seen before.

Shandrin curtsied before the man on the raised throne in front of us and Sebastian and I took that as a cue to bow. Once she rose, Shandrin started to explain our situation and included a bunch of political stuff that I was having trouble following. While they talked, I tried to get a look at this king of Chaos without staring directly at him. He looked perfectly human, which surprised me after seeing Lady Damuiné and hearing about the Dogs. I then remembered what Shandrin had said about shape shifters and couldn't help but wonder if his form was a disguise.

Soon, a contract of sorts had been written up and both the king and Shandrin signed it. The paper was rolled up and handed to Shandrin, who took it.

"I shall investigate the houses to see which of them attacked you," the king said. "However, there are many houses in Chaos, and I don't recall any of them employing creatures such as those you described."

He was probably referring to those Dog things that I'd yet to see.

"Thank you," Shandrin said with another curtsy. I imitated with a bow. Sebastian just stood there. And then he opened his mouth.

"Hey. So, do you guys have trumps here, too?"

I cringed. Damnit, Sebastian!

However, the king seemed amused. He opened a drawer in the throne he sat in and pulled out a few cards. He fanned them, showing a back decorated with the image of an entwined serpent, and then flashed us the fronts. They looked just like Amber trumps, only instead of people and places, they showed all sorts of demons. Weird.

"Ah. Thanks." Sebastian said with a grin.

The three of us were dismissed from the throne room and Shandrin pulled out a trump that she had slipped under the fabric of her dress above her left breast. Sebastian watched her a little too intently.

The trump was Random, I saw. She held it up and started to focus on it.

"Oh, hey, so, what was the final verdict?" Sebastian asked. "I wasn't really following it." Glad I wasn't the only one.

"I'll tell you when we get back," she said. "Hello, father. Could you pull us through?" Sebastian and I each grabbed one of her shoulders as she held out her hand.

We were back in Random's room again. He was sitting on a couch next to a woman who looked an awful lot like Shandrin. Her mother? The queen?

"How did it go?" Random asked.

"It went well," Shandrin replied as she held out the piece of paper. "King Therel was open to a cease fire. He said he has only taken the throne recently and has much more important matters to take care of than war. He said that he personally didn't send the troops, but that a house might have without his permission. He said he was going to investigate. Also, we learned that the person who attacked you was likely a shape shifter imitating the form of Lady Damuiné. Whoever this person was escaped by using a trump."

Random pursed his lips as he took in all of this information. "And the Jewel?" He asked.

"He didn't know where it was," Shandrin replied.

Random clicked his tongue and then sighed. "Well, I'm glad you were able to find out that much, at least. And I suppose I should tell you what has happened while you were away," he said as he slid an arm around the woman beside him. "After you left, Caine went missing. He then showed up again three days later-"

"Three days?!" Sebastian interrupted. "We were only gone, what, 5 hours tops!"

"Time moves differently in Chaos," Shandrin explained. "An hour there could be anything from a few seconds to a few weeks in Amber."

Random just waited there patiently for Shandrin to finish explaining. "Anyway, as I was saying, he showed up again three days later. The day after his return, ghosts started to appear in Amber. At first, they were just faint visions that we barely noticed. They didn't seem to be able to see us, and we could pass right through them. However, as time went on, the visions grew more solid. We could touch them, and they could pick things up and move them around. They could also talk, but they never stayed long after opening their mouths, which was a shame. Anyway, about a week after the first ghost sighting, Caine vanished again. He's been missing since."

"Exactly how long were we gone?" I asked.

"About a month," Random said. "Maybe a little less." He shrugged. Sebastian's eyes widened.

"Has anyone recognized these ghosts?" Shandrin asked.

Random shook his head. "Not yet. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. However, I've asked that anyone report to me if they do recognize anyone. By the way," he added. "Dinner's almost ready. We've prepared some rooms for you in the castle. You might as well familiarize yourself with them before you eat. I'll have Dante show you the way."


	10. Chapter 10

Dinner was an elegant meal spanning several courses. I had grown to enjoy these formal gatherings in my month in Amber. Since I had nothing of importance to return to on Earth, I had no trouble adjusting to living in Castle Amber and was enjoying every moment being pampered.

Shandrin and the two other newly initiated Amberites had just returned from Chaos, so as dinner was wrapping up, Random made a brief announcement informing us of what happened while they were gone.

"Even though we have a treaty with Chaos," Random said as I slowly chewed the last bite of my meal. "We have to remain on high alert. The attacker could be any of the houses of Chaos, and they may attack again in spite of them having the Jewel and in spite of the agreement made between myself and King Therel. There's also a chance that these ghosts are hostile, even though nothing disastrous has happened yet. We need to have as many family members in and around the castle as possible. I intend on contacting our AWOL relatives again after dinner. However, Caine still needs to be found and dealt with. Therefore, I'd like to send Shandrin, Jonah, and Sebastian on a search for the traitor Caine."

It sounded reasonable enough, even though I still thought they were a little too quick on accusing Caine of these ghosts. After all, it could have all been a coincidence.

Sebastian looked like he was about to blurt something out in response to the news. However, Oliver interrupted him. "I'll go too," he said softly. Everyone instantly turned to stare at him. Meek, quiet Oliver going out on a quest to find Caine? It seemed hard to imagine.

Oliver shifted in his seat, probably uncomfortable from the sudden silence that filled the room.

"I'd rather not send both of you," Random eventually said. "However, if you insist, then I'm not going to stop you." Oliver nodded. I stood, and the sudden screech of my chair made the young prince almost jump out of his skin.

"Excuse me," I said before leaving.

I was done with dinner and all important matters seemed to have been covered. There was no reason for me to stick around, especially since the whole room had gotten so intense. I also didn't want to be there in case Oliver mentioned what I was sure his motivation to go was: Dante. Though I was quite fond of my nephew/cousin, he was, to put it bluntly, a total ass on par with Sebastian. I had caught him harassing poor Oliver on several occasions, which had explained Oliver's discomfort when Dante had used him to pull us through when I first entered Amber. It was no wonder that Oliver was taking this opportunity to leave.

Also, those ghosts were a nuisance, to say the least. I didn't blame Oliver. With his partial blindness, I could imagine that the figments were probably even more frustrating for him. He probably couldn't tell if the blurry shadow he saw was a harmless ghost cook peeling potatoes or Dante getting ready to chuck a book at his head. If not for the fact that I knew Random needed me here, I would have volunteered as well. The ghosts always seemed to be in my way. I once tripped over a young girl playing in the halls. Another time, I sat in the lap of an elderly gentleman who had appeared in my chair when I wasn't looking. Luckily, they didn't seem to be hostile and seemed just as surprised to see us as we were to see them.

I turned a corner towards my room and then stopped in my tracks. Something didn't seem quite right about the hallway, though I couldn't put my finger on it. I pursed my lips and continued anyway. I was sure I had taken the right turn.

After a while, I noticed what seemed off. The hallway was subtly different than usual. The walls were a slightly darker color. The lights were a few inches higher. There were more doors on the left-hand side than before. I stopped walking and looked around. Strange. This was in fact the wrong hallway. However, I didn't recall ever being in this part of the castle.

I took a left that should have taken me closer to my chambers if I had been in the right hallway and heard a voice nearby, coming from a familiar right turn that should have taken me straight to my rooms. Luckily, this strange hall mirrored the one I was used to so well that I was sure it would be impossible for me to get lost.

I walked down the hall, noting the subtle differences as I went, and then took that right turn towards the voice.

It's not easy to surprise me. However, my eyes widened in shock. There was a face I thought I'd never see again. Dressed all in black and silver and holding a trump, my father walked down the hall toward me. I gasped, trying to form words. What was I to say? He had been gone for so much of my life that I had all but forgotten about him, and now he was right in front of me. It was all so sudden! My father - I knew him as Karl, but Caine had referred to him as "Corwin" - looked up at me. At first, he glared at me like I was some sort of intruder, but realization flashed across his face. He recognized me and he knew it.

The trump he was holding dropped to the floor. As it fell, I saw that one side depicted a gorgeous young woman who shared several features with myself and my father - my half sister in Rebma, perhaps? - and the other showed a rearing Pegasus with outstretched wings.

Corwin opened his mouth and moved it. No sounds came out. He and the entire hallway flickered and wavered for a second before returning to normal, albeit hazy.

"Vater?" I managed to choke out. My shock made it impossible for me to form thoughts in Thari, so my brain had reverted back to what it was most comfortable with, German. "Es ist mich, Nils!"

My father's mouth opened again. The single word he spoke sounded distant and faint. "Nils?"

His image shimmered and shook again. What was happening? Was he a ghost? But this had never happened before with other ghost sightings. Usually, they were the ones that flickered out of existence.

The scene wavered again and then faded from sight. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. My father… would he still be there? When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a familiar hallway, standing in front of my bedroom door. I leaned against my door and shivered. Had I been imagining things? No… No, I had definitely seen my father. But if he was in Amber this entire time and had trumps on him, then why was no one able to reach him?

As I shakily reached for my trumps, I noticed a servant girl down the hall staring at me. I quickly attempted to compose myself, let myself into my room, and locked the door behind me. Once in privacy, I flipped through my trumps until I located my father's. I held it before me and focused on it, trying to make it real. No luck. The card remained cool and lifeless in my hand. I sighed and sat in my chair. He wasn't answering. Did that mean he was ignoring me?

I turned the card over in my hand and saw the image of the unicorn, the sacred beast of Amber. All of the trumps of Amber had this symbol on it. When I had asked Dante about it a few weeks ago, he said something about how it was the emblem of Amber. However, the symbol on the back of the card my father had held had been a Pegasus. I frowned and flipped over my deck of trumps. All of mine were backed with the same image of a unicorn. Not a single one showed a winged horse.

I started to put the deck away when I remembered the order Random had issued when the ghosts had started appearing. Though that instance hadn't been a typical ghost sighting, I had still recognized someone who had appeared under unusual circumstances.

I flipped through my deck again and pulled out Random's trump. As I focused on this one, I felt a stirring. Contact occurred right away.

"Nils!" Random said as he set down his own deck of trumps. "What is it? Is something wrong? You look rather pale."

I decided that I'd get right to the point. "I saw my father," I said bluntly.

Random blinked at me and then his eyes widened. "You saw Corwin?" He asked. I nodded. "Where? When?"

"In a strange hallway just a few minutes ago," I replied.

"A ghost?"

I shook my head. "It wasn't quite the same," I said. "But he did vanish like one. I'm not sure what was going on."

"Tell me everything that happened."

So I did. I told him about traveling along the hallway that I had never seen before until I heard a voice. I told him about how I turned the corner, and there was my dad, holding that strange trump. I even told him about the way existence seemed to shiver. He listened in silence.

"It almost sounds like you stumbled into another shadow," he said after several moments of thought. "But it's impossible to walk in shadow this close to Amber." I nodded. Dante had told me that while he had taught me how to manipulate shadow one afternoon when we visited Forest Arden.

"What could it have been, then?" I asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," Random admitted. "Let me think about it. But it's good to know that Corwin is still alive."

"We don't know that for sure," I replied, trying to be realistic. After all, we did call the strange visitations "ghosts."

"Don't be ridiculous," Random said. "The dead don't use trumps!" He laughed to himself and then broke contact.

I returned his card to the deck and then set my deck on the small table to my right. So my father was alive, huh? I took a deep breath. Maybe this meant I'd be able to see him again, and soon. A leaned back in my chair and rolled a cigarette for myself. What would I talk to him about? What would he tell me? Would he want to be in my life again? I pondered these things as I smoked.

It was late by the time I finally went to bed. That night, I dreamt of Munich.


	11. Chapter 11

After Nils left, everyone went back to idle chitchat, totally ignoring us. What the hell did he mean that we were going to find Caine?!

I elbowed Jonah lightly in the ribs. "We're not seriously doing this, are we?" I asked. "Looking for Caine?"

Jonah shrugged. "It doesn't seem too bad," he replied. How could he be so damn calm about this? I wanted to punch him in the face.

Shandrin turned to us. "I'll go work on making trumps of the two of you for our journey," she said with a warm smile. Arg! Why was everyone just going along with this like it was okay? I gritted my teeth. The only good thing about this would be the fact that Shandrin would be going with us. "If you'd like, Sebastian, you can come to my room this evening and I'll teach you how to draw trumps." Well now. An invitation to the lady's quarter's already? Maybe things weren't quite as bad as they seemed.

After a few moments, Random excused himself, followed by Bernard. Soon after Bernard left, Diego got up and started towards me. "Follow me," he said simply as he strode past. The hell was his problem? I followed him anyway purely out of curiosity. He led me to an abandoned room and closed and locked the door behind us.

"Hey, why did y- HEY!" Before I could even react, the douche had snatched the emerald-studded dagger from my belt and had chucked it out an open window. "Bastard! Caine gave me that!" I yelled before running to the window. The blade was already out of my sight.

"You don't need anything Caine gave you," Diego said as he pulled out a dagger from his boot and offered it to me. I hesitantly took it.

"What am I going to tell Caine, though?" I glared at him.

Diego shrugged. Jerk. "All that matters is that you don't have that dagger anymore and that you now have mine."

"What are you talking about?"

Diego turned and sat in a chair by the window. I glanced around and took a seat nearby. It felt awkward being the only person standing.

"I'll get right to the point," my half brother said. "I don't trust Oliver."

"Buh?" Not the most eloquent thing I've ever said, but it seemed fitting for the situation.

"He looks rather harmless, doesn't he?" Diego continued. "However, he's been hanging around Caine an awful lot recently. And before Caine left the first time, I overheard them talking about some plot and whether or not it would work. Oliver can't be trusted."

"Why haven't you told Random about this?" I asked.

"Pah. Accusing the King of Amber's son of treason when I have no solid proof? Only a fool would do that." Diego crossed his arms over his chest. "But that's why I'm telling you this, so that he doesn't trick you and ruin everything. It's also why I gave you that dagger." He nodded at the weapon that I now held.

"So I can stab him with it?"

"Well, that too, I suppose," Diego said thoughtfully. "However, I usually try to avoid stabbing people with that one. He doesn't really enjoy it."

"Wait. Did you say your dagger here doesn't like stabbing things?" I asked, hoping I misheard him.

Diego shrugged. "It's not what he was made for," he said. "He's a scout, not a murderer."

I stared at him like he was crazy.

"That dagger's name is Dywin. He only responds to those who know his name. At will or by command, he can turn into the shape of a rat and back again into a dagger. He can also speak telepathically in Thari and send images of things that he has seen."

"Huh." If that last bit was true, then I already had an idea of how I wanted to use this thing.

"Use Dywin to spy on Oliver. Make sure to keep in touch with me. Do you have a deck of trumps yet?" When I shook my head, he pulled out another dagger from his other boot. The dagger shifted form and eventually became a deck of trumps. Was he going to give me that dagger too? Because that was a pretty sweet trick.

Instead of giving the deck to me, however, he pulled out a card and focused on it. "I need an extra trump deck," he said. "Could you fetch one and then trump me? I'll pull you through." He then placed a hand over the card, shuffled it back into the deck, turned the deck back into a dagger, and slid the blade back into his boot.

"Now," he said, turning to me. "Don't tell anyone of my suspicions. If you do, I'll deny it vehemently and let you take the fall. Understand?"

"Yeah, whatever. I'm not a moron." I muttered as I fiddled with the dagger he had given me.

Diego shot me a look that said he didn't believe me. "You being a moron is exactly why I trusted you with this information," he said. I couldn't believe I was related to this asshat. "If you tell anyone, odds are that they'll just assume you're an idiot. Even so, I'm not sure if I regret telling you this or not," he said and the trailed off, leaving a long pause that had made me feel a bit awkward. "If I weren't expendable like you, I would've volunteered as well." I glared and started to open my mouth. "One moment," he said, raising a hand to silence me. "Hello? Alright. Thanks." He held out one hand and suddenly our father, Julian, joined us in the room.

"Here's the deck, though I don't know why you couldn't get it yourself," he said as he held out a pack of cards to Diego.

"It's not for me. It's for Sebastian," Diego said with a nod in my direction.

Julian glanced at me, seeming to notice me for the first time, and glared. As he walked toward me, he pulled the trumps out of their case, searched through them, and removed one before handing the rest to me. Before I could ask what he was doing, my prick of a dad was already ripping the card to shreds. "The hell are you doing, you jerk off?!" I shouted as I tried to snatch the card from him.

He dropped the ruined card on the floor and I saw that it was a trump of himself. "I'm going to enjoy your time away from me," he said simply as he turned toward the door. "I don't want to hear from you." He unlocked the door and left.

Once he was gone, Diego got up. "Remember what I told you," he said before following after our father.

Whatever. I pocketed the trumps and returned to the dining hall to see if Shandrin was still there. She wasn't. However, Jonah and Oliver were still there, chatting. I pretended that I was still hungry and grabbed a few pieces of meat and some wine as I listened to them talk.

"Are you sure you want to go with us?" Jonah asked. "It might be dangerous."

Oliver squirmed in his seat and then nodded. "I want to help you," he said softly.

Psh. As if. Diego had just told me the guy was in cahoots with Caine. He was probably just going with us to stab us all in the back.

"Your dad's going to worry about you," Jonah said.

Oliver wrung his hands nervously. "L-look. Um… I-I have my reasons…"

"Like what?" Jonah asked.

Oliver lowered his head. "While Shandrin was in Chaos, Dante and Diego were," he paused and took a deep breath. "They were meaner than usual. I had to endure their teasing for a whole month. I don't want to be stuck here with them while my sister's off in shadow!"

Jonah nodded sympathetically. It looked like he was eating it up. The idiot.

"Well then, maybe you should just man up and stop getting picked on by stupid bullies," I said. Oliver nearly jumped a mile. He must not have noticed me, him being mostly blind and all.

Jonah picked up a dinner roll and handed it to Oliver. "I second this," he said. "And you can start by hitting Sebastian over there right in the face."

"Wait, what? Hey!" I ducked to dodge the incoming food missile from Oliver, but Jonah chucked one at me next, hitting me square in the face. "Ow! Damnit!" I got up. I didn't have to deal with this BS. I had a date with the little guy's smoking-hot sister. That'd show him.

I rubbed my nose as I left, hoping that the hard roll Jonah had hit me with wouldn't leave a mark. Once I couldn't hear the two of them anymore, I pulled out my new trumps and shuffled out Shandrin's card.

Even her trump was sexy. She stood there, leaning against a door frame, wearing almost nothing. Her top was low cut with thin straps across her shoulders. Her light-green skirt was shorter than a porn star's. I swallowed hard and tried to focus on reaching her with my mind. Contact was instant. I almost dropped the card in surprise as the picture came to life in front of me.

"Sebastian?" came Shandrin's silky voice.

"Yeah," I replied, trying to play it cool. "You wanted to talk to me about trumps?"

"Oh, right! I'm sorry. I should have waited for you. Let me pull you through." She held out her hand. I reached forward and took it. Her skin was almost unnaturally soft. The next thing I knew, I was standing in her living room. It was surprisingly plain for the room of the daughter of a king. Hell, they were plain for anyone. The place hardly looked lived in.

The living quarters just had a desk, which was covered in inks, paints, and trump-sized cards, and two chairs. Other than that, it was painfully empty. Maybe she spent all her time in her bedroom.

"I didn't realize you had my trump," she said as she sat down at the desk.

"Oh, er, Diego gave me a deck," I said.

"Well, that makes things easier, then," she said as she started to paint. Seemed like she was working on a trump of Jonah. I scowled.

"You have the potential to be a good trump artist," Shandrin said as she painted. "I thought you'd be able to make your own trump of yourself."

"Make a trump? Of me?" I stared at her.

She nodded. "You can work beside me so that I can help you." She said. I pulled up a chair. She didn't have to tell me twice!

A blank card was placed in front of me. I picked up a brush.

"Hold the image of the pattern in your mind as you draw," Shandrin instructed. "Focus on capturing your essence in the card."

I did as instructed. The image of the pattern came up in my mind's eye with surprising little effort. "Okay, here I go," I muttered as I tried focusing on my own qualities. I then stopped. "Do you mind if I try to make a trump other than myself?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter," Shandrin said. "But I should call Oliver, then, and let him know that he should make your trump for you."

Bleh. Oliver again. I ignored Shandrin as she dug out her brother's trump and called the image of the pattern again and changed my focus. Instead of my own qualities, I focused on my new subject's. I focused on how much of a jerk off he was. I focused on his creepy hobbies. I focused on his cold sarcasm.

The painting was tough. Moving my paintbrush was like walking the pattern. Well, the easy bits of the pattern, at least. Slowly, the image took form.

I set the picture at the horse stalls. My father stood alone, leaning against a stall as a horse licked his hair. Though Julian was completely recognizable, I had changed a few small details. His eyes were crossed, and I'd added a very fancy mustache. Instead of his annoyingly shiny armor, I'd put him in a burlap sack and dung-smeared cowboy boots. I silently admired the card before having Shandrin check my work.

She daintily took the card by its edges and stared at it with her blank eyes. "Oh! Ha ha! It's Julian!" She giggled as she handed it back to me. "Good work. That card will work." She set aside Jonah's card, which she had been making finishing touches on. There was no way this girl was blind from the way she had shaded Jonah's clothes. She had to be lying.

"It's getting late," she said with a yawn. "You should go back to your room."

"Do I have to?" I asked hopefully as my eyes wandered down her body.

"You have to get some sleep," she said. "We're leaving early tomorrow."

Shot down. Damn. "Fine," I muttered. I watched her wander off to her bedroom, half tempted to follow her anyway, and then left. I'd contact my dad to rub my new trump in his face and then pass out. That painting had really taken a lot out of me. That, or it was later than I thought it was. I was exhausted.

I returned to my rooms and held up the trump of my father. The paint was mostly dry but still a little sticky. I hoped it would work still. I held it up in the dim light and focused. "Ring ring, motherfucker," I muttered to myself with an amused grin. At first, it felt like I was staring at any other normal card. After a while, however, it flickered to life.

"Hello? Who is it?" Julian muttered, pulling back his covers to rub at his eyes.

"Hello, daddy dearest," I said. I did not expect him to go off on me quite like that. His angry tirade lasted a good ten minutes. I had to bite back my laughter at several parts. He could come up with some rather creative swears.

"Don't you dare call me again! No, wait! You know what? Call me. Call me every damned day. That way, I'll know from your lack of contact that you're finally dead!" With that, he ended the communication. I burst out laughing. I was definitely going to call him every day, just for more of that! I set the card on a table to finish drying and then got ready for bed.

I didn't feel like I had slept long when I was awoken by a knock on my door. I grumbled and rolled over. There was another knock. Whoever it was could leave until I got a decent amount of sleep! First Julian woke me up for some stupid dragons, and now some asshole didn't know how to let me sleep in right before I was supposed to leave on some horrible adventure?

The knocking stopped. I sighed and started to drift off when I felt a weird feeling in the back of my mind. I opened my eyes. Something about the feeling reminded me of Shandrin. Was this a trump call? I focused on letting the feeling into my mind, and her image appeared in front of me.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully. I forced myself to smile, even though I was still groggy. "Do you mind letting me in? I have something to show you."

"Just a sec," I said, getting to my feet. I made myself presentable and then went to the door. "Good morning indeed." I said as I stared at what she was wearing. The light-green, strapless dress clung tightly to her breasts before puffing out into a loose baby-doll style that reached only her mid thighs. She giggled as she walked past me and into my room.

"I wanted to show you how to make copies of a trump." She held up the trump of Jonah.

"Er, okay," I said. Disappointment again. What did a guy have to do around here to get some action?

"You know how to trump the person, right? Well, to make copies, you do something similar. However, you trump the card itself, not the subject, and then pull it through itself."

"Sounds complicated."

"It's not." She raised the card in front of her face, reached out, and pulled. A stream of cards shot out after her and scattered all over the floor. "See? You can only do that with an original copy, though."

"Wow."

She beamed proudly. "Now help me pick these up so I can hand them out."

I helped her collect the scattered trumps. "By the way," I asked, glancing up to casually glance at her booty. "How did you trump me?"

"Oh. Oliver finished with your card, too. He's handing them out as well." She scooped up the last of the cards and took the pile I had collected, though left me with a copy before she left. I added it to my deck and then tried to fall back to sleep. However, my damn stomach kept gurgling. I sighed and got up. Might as well see about getting breakfast. Maybe I could even bum a smoke off someone, since my cigarettes seemed to be useless here.

I freshened myself up for the day and left, locking my door before I went. Not like I had anything of value yet, but better safe than sorry.

As I made my way through the halls, I heard someone call my name. Turning, I saw Dante grinning at me. Oh hey! Perfectly timed. "Are you free for a bit?" He asked.

"I was just going to eat," I replied.

"Perfect. Come with me. I'll have a servant bring us breakfast." He led me back to his room, pausing only to stop a servant girl to request some food. I sat in one of the plush, gold-framed chairs. Now THIS was how the living chambers of royalty was supposed to look! The room was brightly lit and hung with velvets and silks in reds and purples. Everything that could have gold on it did. Even though Dante dressed silly, he did have a sense of style. I could respect that.

He pulled out a box of tobacco and rolled each of us a cigarette. I lit mine off of a nearby candle and leaned back in the chair. If only life in Amber could be like this all the time!

Dante puffed on his own cigarette and then pushed the remaining tobacco towards me. "Take it," he said. "It should hold you over on your trip. You can always trump me if you need more."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I have plenty more."

"Thanks!" This dude just skyrocketed to the top of my favorites list! "So what did you want to talk about?"

Dante shrugged. "Your trip," he said casually as he flicked ash from the tip of his cigarette. "I personally think it's a bit of a bad idea."

"You aren't the only one," I muttered.

"Caine's a weird one," Dante said. "Watch your back around him. He's sneakier than most of the other Amberites. This entire set up could just be one huge trap. I don't like it." There was a knock at the door. Dante rested his smoke on the edge of the ash tray. "Come in!"

We were both surprised to see Oliver enter the room instead of our breakfast. He shifted from foot to foot as his dim gaze darted between us. "I brought copies of Sebastian's trump," he muttered.

"Well, bring them here. Let us take a look at them." Dante said. Oliver shuffled his feet a while longer before stepping forward and holding out a card to Dante. He then rummaged around and produced a second card, which he offered to me.

The lines were sloppier than Shandrin's, and the portrait hardly looked like me. Maybe the two siblings were lying and Oliver was actually the completely blind one while Shandrin still had sight. Dante chuckled at the rendition of me.

I glared at him and then handed Oliver back the card, but he refused. "It's for you," he said, looking away. "For your deck."

"When the hell am I going to trump myself?" I asked, thrusting the card out again. He flinched.

"We all have trumps of ourselves," Dante said with a shrug as he added the card to his deck. "It's so we can use the cards to tell fortunes."

"Hmph." I reluctantly kept the card, but didn't make a move to put it in my deck. Oliver glanced at each of us, excused himself, and then left us alone. Once he was gone, I made a show of tearing up the card. Dante picked up his cigarette again and stared at me, puzzled.

"I don't like him," I said as I swept the pieces into a tiny pile on the table between us.

Dante laughed. "I don't either," he said. "There's something about him that makes me not trust him. It's probably the fact that he's so weak. I don't like weak people."

I took a long drag on my cigarette. Guess it wasn't just Diego who felt this way. "Do you think he might have something to do with the ghosts?" I asked, just to be sure.

Dante laughed again, harder and longer this time. I thought he was going to choke. "No, no. Oliver doesn't have a nefarious bone in his body. That might be one of the reasons why I don't like him. We all have our wicked tendencies. Oliver's so sweet that I just want to kick him."

Or not.

"You, though. I like you because you're like the rest of us. And I can already tell where one of your nefarious bones is by the way you trail after Shandrin like a lost puppy." Dante grinned at me as there was another knock on the door. "Come in!" He called.

This time, it was a servant with a tray of fruits and breads, a pot of coffee, and two cups. He left both on the table between us, bowed, and then left us alone again.

I tucked into what appeared to be an apple as Dante filled our cups. Though it looked like an apple, it was much juicier, like a peach.

"You can't blame me, though," I said between bites. "She's hot."

"She is," Dante admitted. "Not exactly my type, though. I tend to go for the ones who aren't related to me. I don't want to be the cause of too many confusing loops in our family tree."

I finished off the apple and licked my fingers. "Makes sense," I said. "Earlier you said something about telling fortunes. What was that about?"

"Oh! You don't know?" Dante set down his cup of coffee and pulled out his deck. "Here, let me show you." He showed me a few spreads, explaining what each card meant as he pulled it. However, he talked so fast that I was barely following him. I just ate my breakfast and grunted when there was a break long enough to do so. The whole thing reminded me of tarot.

Just as I was helping clean up, I got that tingly feeling in my head that felt like Shandrin was calling me. "Hey, Shandrin," I said.

"Where are you?" She asked. "We're almost ready to leave."

"Oh. Right. Well, I'm in Dante's room. He was teaching me more about trumps. Where are you?"

"I'll just pull you through," she said.

"Not right now. I have to finish packing my stuff," I said. I wasn't leaving without my axe!

"Alright. Trump me when you're ready." With that, she ended the call.

I sighed. "Guess I have to go," I said as I picked up the box of tobacco.

Dante nodded. "Don't have too much fun!" He said with a playful salute.

"Oh, I'll do my best," I replied. The guy was easily my favorite relative. Why couldn't I just get a chance to relax and chill with him for a few days? Stupid Caine.


	12. Chapter 12

While Shandrin waited for Sebastian, I decided to test out my new surfboard. I pulled out my trump deck, held them vertically with one finger bowing them outward, and then let them fly from my fingers like I was playing 52 card pickup. The cards stuck together in midair, hardened, and transformed into my surfboard. Or should I call it my wave board? The thing could still ride surf, but it could also ride any form of wave. Well, a name is just a name. I figured it didn't matter much.

I climbed onto the board. It was a little shaky, but surprisingly held my weight. I was half expecting it to fall the second I got on. Guess invisible waves were stronger than I thought.

It took a while to get the hang of catching the right waves. However, I soon figured out a pattern and could swoop effortlessly through the air. It was a good thing Sebastian was taking so long, I decided. I was getting in plenty of good practice. Oliver and Shandrin looked pretty bored, though. They had finished packing up the horses almost an hour ago.

Eventually, Shandrin pulled Sebastian through. I brought my surfboard to rest nearby and sat on it. Sebastian's eyes widened.

"Hey! Why does everyone else have cool toys?" He snapped. Shandrin just silently grabbed his hand and led him to where the horses waited.

There were only three mounts. I wasn't a huge fan of the concept of riding on another living thing's back, so I opted out. Luckily, I had an alternative.

"Can't we take the train?" Sebastian asked in exasperation. I sighed. I was not looking forward to traveling with this guy.

"There are no trains that go where we're going," Shandrin said as she led Sebastian to his horse, which was brown with white socks on its front hooves. Oliver had already mounted his horse, which looked almost identical to Sebastian's, though had a white star on its forehead. "Julian mentioned that you know how to ride."

"Yeah. Not really," Sebastian muttered as he struggled to pull himself into the saddle. Shandrin helped him and then mounted her own horse, which was a soft grey with white speckles on its flanks.

Shandrin led the way, followed by Oliver and Sebastian. I decided to take up the rear to keep an eye on Sebastian. I wasn't sure I liked him being so close to Oliver.

The four of us traveled down the mountain that I had learned was called Kolvir and into Forest Arden. Once we reached the forest, I started noticing slight changes to the trees. At first, I thought I must be imagining things, but the changes grew more and more pronounced the more I stared.

"This shit again?" Sebastian muttered.

"Hm?" Shandrin said without turning.

"The weird tree-changing nonsense," he replied. "It happened here before, right before Julian made me fight a bunch of flaming steroid deer."

Shandrin laughed. "Julian only ever seems to hellride to hunt. We're hellriding to find Caine."

"And the difference is?" Sebastian prompted.

"No flaming deer," she replied. "That's a promise."

Sebastian kept muttering. I ignored him and watched the changes. The further we got from Amber, the more obvious they became. After we left the forest, the sky started to change color almost constantly. For one instant, we were at a beach. A second later, we were on rolling plains. My head was starting to hurt.

"This is starting to make me dizzy," I said after a while.

"Is it?" Shandrin asked. "I'm sorry. I have to hellride by scent and sound, so I can imagine that the visuals probably are a little unstable. Do you want to take over?"

"I wouldn't know where to begin," I admitted.

"Just focus on finding Caine," she said. "While focusing on Caine, think about one or two constants that you want to keep the same. Everything else will change, but the constants you chose will stay the same and we'll move closer to Caine. Go ahead. Try it."

I grimaced, but decided to give it a shot. I kept Caine in the front of my mind as my goal and focused on keeping the sky the same shade of pastel orange. The landscape shifted around me, though the sky stayed the same color. I tried it again, this time focusing on keeping the grass. Again, the landscape changed. This was pretty cool.

"How exactly am I doing this?" I asked as I made another change.

"It's the power of the pattern," Oliver answered.

I remembered hearing that the pattern allowed people to walk through shadow. I guess this was what they meant.

"Lemme try!" Sebastian insisted. I finished another change and then reluctantly let him take over. We rode on like that, taking turns leading the hellride and only stopping once for a light lunch. Eventually, the four of us grew too tired to continue. Shandrin guided us to a shadow where it was evening, where we stopped for rest. While Shandrin and Oliver set up camp and made a light supper, I rode my surfboard on the gentle nighttime sound waves. Once dinner was ready, however, I collapsed my board back into a deck of trumps and went to eat.

After dinner, I expected to go right to bed. However, Sebastian piped up. "So, while I was visiting with Dante, he brought up this whole thing about using trumps to tell fortunes. Is that true?"

Shandrin nodded and pulled out her deck. "It's pretty easy," she said. "Jonah, you should try too. It's a good thing to know."

Even though I was tired, I went to her. I supposed it would be best to learn all I could about these strange little cards.

"This spread is pretty straightforward," Shandrin said as she shuffled her deck. "You don't even have to ask a question or anything. It just tells you your current position and what's likely going to happen in the near future." She cut the deck and then slowly laid out a seven-card spread, describing each card's position as she drew them. She turned the last card face up, showing Caine. "These results mean that we're on the right track and that we're going to run into Caine soon." She said before returning the cards to her deck. "The final card represents someone who is either going to cross your path or cross you. You try now."

Sebastian and I both tried to mirror the spread she had done. About half the cards I drew were the same as hers, including the final one: Caine. I guess that meant I had done it right. Sebastian's, however, only had one or two of the same cards. The final one he drew showed a red haired man with sharp features and sunken eyes. Sebastian picked it up and held it out to Shandrin. "Who's this?" He asked.

Shandrin reached out to touch the card and then recoiled with a gasp. "Brand," she murmured.

"Brand?" Sebastian repeated. "Who's that?"

I remembered hearing the name at some point, but I couldn't quite place it. I was fairly positive I had heard the name from Dante, but he had rattled off so many names that I couldn't tie the name to any specific deeds.

"He's the man who tried to destroy the pattern," Shandrin said. "He was the force behind the Patternfall War. He died before I was born, thankfully. What position was his card in?"

"The last one," Sebastian replied.

Shandrin grimaced. "Brand's card means death, rebellion, treachery, and the unknown. It's not a good card to draw in the final spot."

Sebastian silently gathered up his cards. Guess that reading struck a nerve. I returned my deck to its case, chose a bedroll, and curled up. A few moments later, I heard Sebastian's voice again. "Who's this?" He asked.

"Oh, that's Aunt Fiona!" Shandrin said excitedly. "I haven't seen her since I was a young girl. Did you do another reading? What spot was she in?"

"The last one again," Sebastian replied.

"Well then, maybe you're going to meet her soon," Shandrin said. "She's a wonderful person. I'm sure you'd like her."

I sighed and shifted. These beds weren't very comfortable or warm. It would take a while to get used to them.

I wasn't sure how I managed to fall asleep. By the time I woke up, it was already morning. Oliver and Shandrin were both up and trying to bring the fire back to life. I yawned and stretched.

We took our turns wishing each other a good morning, and then I went off a ways to relieve myself. When I came back, I helped with the fire. By this time, Sebastian was stirring. "Ugh," he groaned as he shielded his eyes from the light. "Is there coffee?"

"Not yet," Shandrin replied as she started working on breakfast.

Sebastian got up and started to wander off. "Gunna go take care of business," I heard him say. After a few moments, he was back and rummaging through his bedroll. "Forgot something," he said as he held up his trumps. He turned and walked off again.

Ew. I could only hope that he didn't mean what I thought he meant.

Well, he was gone for a while. That definitely didn't help my suspicions any. He finally came back once breakfast was served and almost gone.

"Are you alright, Sebastian?" Shandrin asked. "I thought you might've trumped me earlier, but you didn't say anything."

Ew. Why was I traveling with this incestuous pervert? I sighed and finished off my food.

Once breakfast was gone, the four of us worked on breaking camp and packing up. As I hauled one of the bedrolls onto the back of Oliver's horse, I noticed a strange rumbling in the distance. "Do you guys hear that?" I asked, looking around to try to spot the source of the sounds. Off in the distance, I noticed a cloud of dust. Did that mean what I thought it meant? "Guys, I think there's a stampede aimed right at us!" I said as I rushed to grab the last few things that were still out.

The horses were growing nervous by the time they were mounted. I transformed my deck in record time and scrambled onboard. As we started the hellride, I turned to look behind me. A lone giraffe was charging, kicking up dust as it went.

"Can giraffes follow us through shadow?" I asked as the landscape started to fade.

"No," Shandrin replied. "Only other people who can walk through shadow should be able to follow us."

I felt relieved. However, when I turned to look again, the giraffe was still hot on our trail.

"It's still after us!" I called.

"That's impossible!" Shandrin called back. The landscape changed again. The giraffe came along with it. "Is it still there?"

"Yup!" I called back. The thing sure was persistent. "Just a sec. I'm going to try something!" I wheeled my surfboard around and went right at it. I'm not sure why I thought this was a good idea. Maybe I thought I'd scare it off. Instead, the giraffe just stopped and stared at me. I stopped and stared back at it. This had been a bad idea.

The giraffe lowered its head and stared at my face. It was a little nerve wracking. It then pulled away and started to kick at the dirt. I looked down, shocked. In the dirt, the giraffe had scratched a name. Not just any name, my father's name. Martin.


End file.
